300.09 criminal complaint request and processing (direction for complaint form)

Number: 300.09

SUBJECT: CRIMINAL COMPLAINT REQUEST AND PROCESSING (DIRECTIONS FOR COMPLAINT FORM)

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Date: 8/5/86 Approved: Ryan Drabek, Director Revised: 2/16/12

I. PURPOSE

To establish a uniform procedure for completing a written Directions for Complaint form and the transmittal of that request to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office or the Office of the City Attorney of a city which contracts with OC Animal Care for animal control services.

II. POLICY

OC Animal Care shall adhere to the established procedures for processing Directions for Complaint forms.

III. SCOPE

Applicable to Field Operations personnel.

IV. FORMS

Directions for Complaint form Declaration In Support of Arrest Warrant per C.C.P. 2015.5 Supplemental Investigation Report

V. REFERENCES

Not applicable.

VI. DEFINITIONS

Not applicable.

VII. PROCEDURE

A Directions for Complaint form is a standard form provided by the Orange County Superior Court system which is a written statement of facts pertaining to a violation(s) of County or State laws. This form is considered a charging or filing document of criminal charges. A Directions for Complaint form will be initiated by an Animal Control Officer (ACO) in lieu of issuing a Notice to Appear (P&P 300.08) or upon citizen request at the discretion of the department. In all instances, the Directions for Complaint form must

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indicate at least one witness to the violation of County or State law(s). This witness may be either an Officer witness or, in the case of a citizen requested complaint, a civilian witness. At least one misdemeanor violation must be listed on the form, although, additional violations, including infractions may be added. In addition, the ACO must input the complaint information into the Chameleon Citation window for record keeping purposes.

A. Initiating a Directions for Complaint Form:

1. Appearance Date: Enter “TBD” indicating the date is to be determined by

the Court. 2. # of Defendants: Enter the number of defendants in the case. 3. DA Branch/Office Unit: Indicate the appropriate Court (I.e. West Justice

Center). The Court will assign the case to the correct Office Unit so that can be left blank.

4. Police Agency: Enter OC Animal Care 5. Citation #: The Directions for Complaint form will also accompany

citations issued for misdemeanor violations pursuant to P&P 300.08. However, if the Directions for Complaint form is being submitted in lieu of the citation, enter “N/A” in this box.

6. Defendant’s Name: Enter the defendant’s last, first and middle names in this order.

7. AKAs: Enter any other names the defendant uses or has used in the past to identify themselves, if known.

8. Date of Birth: Enter the defendant’s date of birth. 9. Race: Enter the defendant’s race. 10. Sex: Enter M for male or F for female. 11. CDL #: Enter the defendant’s California Driver’s License or Identification

number. 12. Hair: enter the defendant’s hair color. 13. Eyes: Enter the defendant’s eye color. 14. Height: Enter the defendant’s height by using one digit to indicate height

in feet and two digits to enter height in inches (e.g. 6-03) 15. Weight: Enter the defendant’s weight. There is no need to enter “pounds”

or “lbs”. 16. Defendant’s Address: Enter the defendant’s street address. 17. City: Enter the city in which the defendant lives. 18. State: Enter the state in which the defendant lives.

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19. Zip Code: Enter the zip code in which the defendant lives. 20. In Custody: This box is to be marked only if the ACO has confirmed the

defendant is in custody. 21. Arraignment Letter: Mark this box if the defendant is not in custody and

the Directions for Complaint Form does not accompany a citation. The Court will send an arraignment letter to the defendant once a court date is set.

22. Count: Enter the number of counts the defendant is to be charged for each violation.

23. DOV: Enter the date the violation occurred. 24. Code & Section #: Enter the specific code and section number the

defendant is alleged to have violated (e.g. OCCO 4-1-45). 25. M/F: Enter “M” for misdemeanor. Felony charges are to be filed by the

appropriate police or sheriff’s department. You may also enter “I” to indicate any infractions that are being added to the directions.

26. Victim Name, Property, Drug, Weapon, DUII Test/Results, Etc.: Enter the specific title of the code violation (e.g. Restraint of dogs).

27. Enhancements/Factors in Aggravation: Enter N/A. 28. Prior Section#: Enter the Section # of any prior convictions. Only prior

convictions are to be noted in this box. 29. Crime Convicted of: Enter the specific section title the defendant was

convicted of. 30. Conviction Date: Enter the date the defendant was convicted of the crime. 31. DUI DOV: Enter N/A. 32. Court: Enter the branch in which the defendant was convicted (e.g. West

Justice Center). 33. State: Enter the state in which the defendant was convicted. 34. County: Enter the county in which the defendant was convicted. 35. Case #: Enter the corresponding Court Case #. 36. Print at end of Complaint or Follow the Count: Enter N/A. 37. Pending and Previous Cases: Enter the same information as indicated in

#28 through #36 above for any pending cases. Indicate that the case is pending.

38. Restitution: Mark “yes” if the defendant has an outstanding balance with OC Animal Care as a result of the violation(s) or no, if not.

39. Case Description: Enter a brief description of the facts of the case that articulate the elements of the crime were met and how. The ACO may also write “See attached supplemental report” if such report is attached.

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40. # Wits: Enter the number of witnesses to the violation including officers. 41. Restitution: Amt.: Do not enter an amount on this line. If restitution is

being sought, mark the To Be Determined box. By marking this box, the Court will set a date for a restitution hearing in which the Operations Desk Sergeant will attend and present a detailed receipt listing the fees the defendant owes as a result of this case.

42. Sentence Recommendation: The ACO is to enter their sentencing recommendation as approved by their supervisor. Recommendations are to be appropriate considering the type of violation. For example, for OCCO 5-1-29(i) citations, you must recommend the court require the owner to reduce the number of animals on the property or show proof of permit; for declared vicious dogs that escape and cause injury, you may want to recommend euthanasia of the animal.

43. Officer Name: Enter the issuing Officer’s first initial and last name. 44. Badge #: Enter the issuing Officer’s badge number. 45. Agency: Enter OC Animal Care. 46. Contact #: Enter the internal Dispatch phone number. 47. PH WIT: Leave this blank. The Court will determine if the Officer will be

interviewed by phone. If so, they will mark this box. 48. Mandatory Appearance: leave this box blank. The Court will mark this

box if the Officer will be required to appear in court. 49. Witness/Victim: Enter the full name of the witness or victim. 50. Home Phone: Enter the home phone number of the witness/victim. 51. Street Address: Enter the street address for the witness/victim. 52. Business Phone: Enter the business phone number for the witness/victim. 53. City, State, Zip Code: Enter the city, state and zip code in which the

witness/victim resides. 54. Victim/Witness is Minor: Mark this box to indicate a victim/witness who

is under the age of 18. 55. Confidential Witness: Mark this box if the victim/witness prefers to

remain anonymous. 56. Language (other than English): Mark this box if the victim/witness speaks

a language other than English. This will notify the Courts that a translator will be required.

57. Notes: Note any additional details necessary regarding the victim/witness.

NOTE: The information outlined in #49 through #57 above must be completed for each victim/witness.

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B. Initiating a Declaration in Support of Arrest Warrant per C.C.P. 2015.5. Completion of this form will be the responsibility of the ACO initiating the action. 1. Enter Jurisdiction’s Justice Center in the Title. 2. Under #1, the ACO is to enter their official job title in the blank spots

(e.g.,Animal Control Officer, Senior Animal Control Officer and Supervising Animal Control Officer).

3. Under #2, the ACO will enter the defendant’s full name and each violation including the code (e.g. OCCO), the section (4-1-51) and the title (e.g. Public protection from dogs).

4. Date: Enter the date the ACO is initiating the form. 5. Declarant: the ACO is to sign their first initial and last name on this line. 6. Declarant: The ACO is to print their first initial and last name on this line. 7. Suspect’s Address: Enter the defendant’s address including street address,

city, state and zip code. 8. Vehicle Description: Enter the defendant’s vehicle description, if

applicable. 9. Suspect’s Description: Enter the defendant’s sex, height, weight, eye color

and hair color in the spaced provided. 10. Suspect’s Driver’s License: Enter the state of issuance and the driver’s

license or identification number in the spaces provided. 11. Scars, marks, tattoos, features: Enter any information that will assist in

identifying the defendant. 12. Other information: Enter any other pertinent information that would assist

in identifying the defendant.

C. Processing:

1. All completed Directions for Complaint forms, Declaration in Support of Arrest Warrant forms and accompanying supplemental Reports will be forwarded to the ACO’s supervisor for review and approval. Corrections are to be made by the ACO prior to going in service on their following shift. Once approved, the forms will be forwarded to the Operations Desk Sergeant for processing. The Operations Desk Sergeant shall review the contents and make sure all information required for processing is provided

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and is accurate. 2. The Operations Desk Sergeant shall prepare three copies of the forms and

supporting file documents. Two copies, in addition to the originals, will be hand-delivered to the appropriate District Attorney’s Office for review and filing. One copy will be maintained in Operations in the Citation Transmittal Folder. All necessary information will be recorded in the Citation Transmittal Folder anecdotal by the Operations Desk Sergeant for tracking purposes.

3. Once the packets are delivered to the District Attorney’s office, the

Operations Desk Officer will research the status of the complaint on the Superior Court’s website on a weekly basis at minimum. Any court dates that are made available on the website are to be recorded on the calendar and the Operations Desk Officer will follow the case to its conclusion. The results of the case will be recorded in the Citation window of the Chameleon database.

4. If after three weeks of checking the status of a complaint there is no

information on the website, the Operations Desk Sergeant will contact the District Attorney’s Office for an update on the status of the complaint.

5. Should the District Attorney refuse to file charges for violations such

as kennel violations, potentially dangerous or vicious dogs being maintained in contradiction to their restrictions, etc., an activity is to be created by the Operations Desk Sergeant requesting a field officer responds back to the residence to ensure compliance. If the violation still exists, the law is to be enforced which may include issuing another citation up to and including obtaining a warrant.

6. Should the District Attorney file charges, the Operations Desk

Sergeant will continue to monitor the case and provide support to the filing Deputy District Attorney or City Attorney as appropriate.

300.09 criminal complaint request and processing (direction for complaint form)

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Transcript of 300.09 criminal complaint request and processing (direction for complaint form)