Darnell Jones faces extradition, what does the process look like?

TOLEDO, Ohio — Darnell Jones will be extradited to Toledo from Columbus to face charges for the murder of his 13-year-old daughter, Kei’Mani Latigue. No definitive timeline has been announced for when Jones will be returned to Lucas County, which is partially due to the legal process that fleeing individuals with warrants must go through before being returned to the city where they committed a crime. 

In Ohio, this is referred to as intra-state extradition or warrant pickup. The process is established through case law with a baseline built off of Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, established by the Ohio Supreme Court.

Here’s a breakdown of what the process often looks like:

• An individual is arrested after an active warrant is entered into a state system like the Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEAD) or the National Crime Information Center.
• The agency that made the arrest will contact the agency that issued the warrant to confirm it’s valid.
• The subject will be held in a local jail in the city they were arrested in. 
  • If the individual needs medical attention, treatment will come before they are released to the jail. A doctor must clear the individual for transport, but charges can still be filed and arraignments can still be held while the individual is hospitalized.

If new charges are filed in the city the arrest occurred in, there are two different ways the case can be handled to ensure an individual faces cases in each city.

Order of operations play a role in deciding how law enforcement proceeds in transferring an individual with outstanding warrants. Typically the two agencies seeking charges against the arrested individual will come to an agreement as to where the person will face charges first.

1. The individual could face local charges first, meaning they will be booked and possibly arraigned in the city they were arrested in. Bond hearing and plea negotiations can occur at this stage. Once the local case is resolved, either through dismissal, a plea deal or conviction, and sentencing takes place, a detainer is placed on the individual for the original warrant. The agency that issued the original warrant will then pick up the individual. 
2. Alternatively, jurisdictions can agree to temporarily transfer the individual to resolve the initial crime if the crime listed on the warrant is more serious or time sensitive. Typically first degree felony charges, like murder, will take precedence. The individual will be transferred to the initial jurisdiction that signed off on the warrant and face the case in that court system first. After that case is resolved, the individual will be detained and transferred back to the jurisdiction they were arrested in.

In the case of Darnell Jones, while he was arraigned in the Franklin County courts on a felonious assault charge, Jones will face trial in Lucas County for the murder and abduction of Kei’Mani Latigue. He will then be extradited back to Columbus to face the felonious assault charges.