Arrest and Custody in California

• Once California learns of a warrant against you in Missouri, it will draw up a warrant for extradition (also known as a Governor's Warrant), arrest you and take you into custody. Although you will be entitled to a bail hearing, the court might deny bail on the basis that you are a flight risk, since you have already come from Missouri to California. If bail is denied, you must wait in jail for extradition procedures to be completed. You may, however, agree to waive extradition procedures and be immediately transferred to Missouri for arrest.
  
  

Missouri's Extradition Demand

• Missouri must prepare a written extradition demand, known as a fugitive complaint, in order to formally initiate extradition proceedings. After your arrest, the Missouri prosecutor will forward documents relating to your case to the California attorney general, who forwards them to the governor of California. The governor of Missouri will then issue a formal demand for extradition to the governor of California.
  
  

Extradition Hearings

• You are entitled to two hearings. The first hearing, which will take place shortly after your arrest, is designed to determine your identity -- whether or not you are actually the person named in Missouri's warrant. The second hearing, which takes place after Missouri issues its formal extradition demand, allows you to present defenses against extradition. You may present evidence and call witnesses. The governor will then make a decision on whether or not to extradite you.
  
  

Defenses

• An extradition hearing is not a criminal trial -- you may not present evidence pertaining to your guilt or innocence because you will have an opportunity to do this in Missouri. Instead, you may contest only two issues -- whether or not you are actually the person named in Missouri's warrant, and whether or not the Missouri prosecutor's extradition demand was executed in compliance with proper legal procedures. If you establish that you are a victim of mistaken identity, you will be immediately released. If you establish that the Missouri prosecutor's extradition demand was flawed, you will be held in jail or released on bail while the prosecutor cures any defects in the original extradition demand and resubmits it.