Another border story! But "the other one" this time!
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8132799
(Look at the pic, that'st a scary man.)

(snip)
Man with what appeared to be
a bloody chain saw let into U.S.
He was later charged with murder in Canada
Updated: 3:21 p.m. ET June 7, 2005

BOSTON - On April 25, Gregory Despres arrived at the U.S.-Canadian border crossing at Calais, Maine, carrying a homemade sword, a hatchet, a knife, brass knuckles and a chain saw stained with what appeared to be blood. U.S. customs agents confiscated the weapons and fingerprinted Despres.

Then they let him into the United States.

The following day, a gruesome scene was discovered in Despres’ hometown of Minto, New Brunswick: The decapitated body of a 74-year-old country musician named Frederick Fulton was found on his kitchen floor. The man’s head was in a pillow case under a kitchen table. His common-law wife was discovered stabbed to death in a bedroom.
...
Questioned for two hours at border
Bill Anthony, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the Canada-born Despres could not be detained because he is a naturalized U.S. citizen and was not wanted on any criminal charges on the day in question.

Anthony said Despres was questioned for two hours before he was released. During that time, he said, customs agents employed “every conceivable method” to check for warrants or see if Despres had broken any laws in trying to re-enter the country.

“Nobody asked us to detain him,” Anthony said. “Being bizarre is not a reason to keep somebody out of this country or lock them up. ... We are governed by laws and regulations, and he did not violate any regulations.”

Anthony conceded it “sounds stupid” that a man wielding what appeared to be a bloody chain saw could not be detained. But he added: “Our people don’t have a crime lab up there. They can’t look at a chain saw and decide if it’s blood or rust or red paint.”
(/snip)

Oh yeah, I heard this on the radio. Amazing.

It's right that they have to let him in, but it doesn't mean they can't call the police to detain him on either side of the border.

I say we refuse to extradite him until Canada coughs up the "prisoners of conscience" (deserters) they are refusing to send back to us.

What are the police going to detain him for?

What are the police going to detain him for?

Um just not allow him into the US or suspicion of murder?

He was a US citizen...

The more I think about it the more I wonder if there is anything we could have done. I mean if we did detain him on suspicion of murder we cant really go looking though Canada for evidence right? Be tuff to build a case that quickly.

There is no legal means to hold him..He would have owned the police dept if they tried.

thnaks to the lawyers nowadays thats the way it is. Common sence does not mean its right.

You can hold someone for a short period of time without charging him with something, I think. But if he's on the Canadian side... seems like if you were REAL suspicious of someone you could deny them entrance... I mean, if someone tries to cross the border and is holding a stack of jihadist documents, a bloody knife, the parts to a bomb, couldn't you say, "Whoa there, feller"?

Yea that's probable cause I thought. I am no lawyer however.

Why didn't they just send him to Guantanamo? Seems there's no requirement to be charged with anything there, and hey, he could be a terrorist, armed with all those weapons and stuff.

I don't think you can turn your own citizens away from your border for any reason really. If they're a bad person and they're your bad person then you just have to deal with it. No other country wants to deal with them unless they commited their crimes abroad, and even then many convicted criminals are sent home to serve their punishment.

The police would have had as good a chance as anyone of doing something about him. They were the appropriate people to intervene.

I mean, if someone tries to cross the border and is holding a stack of jihadist documents, a bloody knife, the parts to a bomb, couldn't you say, "Whoa there, feller"?

If they were getting onto some regulated transport then yes you'd stop them. If they were breaking the law then apprehend them for that. Otherwise, why can't a US national enter your country in the same manner that he can behave once he's in the US?

Generally speaking, parts to a bomb are illegal for transport across boarders without proper authorization.

Whereas crossing borders with chainsaws obviously are not.

Let's be honest here...

ANYone who looks like Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley should be held indefinitely... whether crossing the border or crossing the street!

I say we refuse to extradite him until Canada coughs up the "prisoners of conscience" (deserters) they are refusing to send back to us.

As a Canadian, I would accept this. You can keep him. We'll keep the conscientious objecters.

Hey... this could be the start of a mutually beneficial trade arrangement. We'll send the U.S. our killers, in exchange for folks that don't want to kill.

That would probably end up being a 100-1 trade. We can do it like cattle out here... when he comes into our territory, we can pen him up and send you a bill for room and board until you come pick him up! :)

We actually talked about this story in my Criminal Justice class. According to the law that governs police arrests, etc...if the cops (and I would imagine that includes border patrol) have a "reasonable" suspicion that a felony (I.E, a murder or assault) occurred, then they can detain the person and if probable cause exists, they can arrest the person. Further, if the officer can prove that he had a reasonable cause (probable cause) to arrest the suspect, even if it is later determined that the suspect did not commit a crime, it is not an illegal arrest.

I would think that (1) bloody weapons, (2) bloody clothes, (3) irratic behaviour would pretty much fill the requirement for "reasonable" suspicion. And, since the BP officers confiscated all his weapons, they must have had some idea that this guy was just a bit hinky...