法律英语：79 Bounty Hunter Laws

by Adam Freedman.

 Today’s topic: Bounty¹ Hunters!
But first, your daily dose of legalese: This podcast does not create an attorney-client relationship with any listener. In other words, although I am a lawyer, I’m not your lawyer. In fact, we barely know each other. If you need personalized legal advice, contact an attorney in your community.

Bounty Hunter Laws
A listener asks whether it’s true that “a bounty hunter can enter his prey's residence without a warrant,” and, “if a bounty hunter breaks down a door can the person inside legally use deadly force to defend himself?”
Great question!
What is a Bounty Hunter?
In case you haven’t been following the exploits of Dog the Bounty Hunter, let me explain that a “bounty hunter” is a person who captures bail² jumpers for a reward, that is, for a “bounty.” A bounty hunter may also be known as a bail bondsman, bail agent, bail officer, fugitive³ recovery agent, fugitive recovery officer, or bail fugitive recovery specialist. Of course, local and state police departments and the FBI also hunt for fugitives⁴, but the financial incentive⁵ of a bounty often leads to faster apprehension⁶ of bail jumpers. In other words, bounty really is the quicker picker upper.
Can a Bounty Hunter Enter a Fugitive’s House without a Warrant?
The short answer to our listener’s question is: Yes, a bounty hunter usually can enter a fugitive’s house without a warrant.
Why? When a person is released on bail, it means that the state is allowing a person who would otherwise be in jail, to go free under certain conditions, pending⁷ his or her trial. The traditional view of American courts is that the state continues to have the same power over an accused prisoner whether or not he or she is released on bail. Indeed, in order to secure his or her release on bail, the accused usually has to sign a contract that gives broad powers to the bail bondsman. And so, if a person jumps bail, the state or its agents -- in this case, the bail bondsmen -- have the same power that they would have, for example, over an escaped convict.
In the 1873 case of Taylor v. Taintor, the U.S. Supreme⁸ Court held that under traditional common law principles, bail bondsmen can basically do as they please to arrest a suspect. “They may” -- and I quote -- “pursue him into another state; may arrest him on the Sabbath; and if necessary, may break and enter his house for that purpose.”
Some states have adopted statutes⁹ specifically defining the power of bounty hunters within their state. It appears that most states with their own statutes have preserved the common law rules set forth¹⁰ by Taylor v Taintor. This is the case, for example in Tennessee, Indiana, Ohio, and North Carolina.
Can Bounty Hunters Legally Enter Other People’s Homes?
Keep in mind that this power extends only to the fugitive’s own house. The situation is very different if we’re talking about the house of a third party. Virtually every state to have considered the issue has decided¹¹ that a bail bondsman does not have the right to enter into the house of another person in order to seize a bail jumper. First of all, other people are not parties to the bail contract, so they never agreed to give the bondsman extraordinary powers, such as the ability to enter their house. Also, it’s important to remember that bounty hunters are not policemen -- they don’t have the power to search a person or enter their home on “probable cause.”
When Can You Legally Use “Deadly Force”?
As far as third parties are concerned, an intruding¹² bounty hunter is simply “breaking and entering” into their house. But what can third parties do? The listener mentioned using “deadly force” -- so let’s take a minute to address that question.
There is a common law rule that allows a person to avoid conviction for homicide, if he or she killed another person in defense¹³ of their home. Lawyers sometimes call this the “Castle Defense,” based on that old saw, “a man’s home is his castle.” That rule still exists in the U.S., but in general, the use of deadly force is only justifiable¹⁴ when a person forces entry into a house under circumstances that suggest that that person is about to kill or inflict¹⁵ serious injury on one of the inhabitants of the house, or if the person is at least about to commit some serious felony.
Under this rule, it’s unlikely that any court would ever find that it was justifiable to use deadly force against a bounty hunter who is doing his or her job.   After all, even if a bounty hunter mistakenly breaks into the house of third party, their intention is simply to apprehend¹⁶ the fugitive, not to commit a felony or harm the other inhabitants of the house. So, if a bounty hunter breaks into your house, you may ask him to leave; if he refuses, you may call the police. You may even use deadly sarcasm¹⁷ against the bounty hunter. But you should not use deadly force.
You can send questions and comments to。。。。。。or call them in to the voicemail line at 206-202-4LAW.  Please note that doing so will not create an attorney-client relationship and will be used for the purposes of this podcast only.

 

1 bounty   

n.慷慨的赠予物，奖金；慷慨，大方；施与

参考例句：

• He is famous for his bounty to the poor.他因对穷人慷慨相助而出名。
• We received a bounty from the government.我们收到政府给予的一笔补助金。

2 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

3 fugitive   

adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者

参考例句：

• The police were able to deduce where the fugitive was hiding.警方成功地推断出那逃亡者躲藏的地方。
• The fugitive is believed to be headed for the border.逃犯被认为在向国境线逃窜。

4 fugitives   

n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Three fugitives from the prison are still at large. 三名逃犯仍然未被抓获。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Members of the provisional government were prisoners or fugitives. 临时政府的成员或被捕或逃亡。 来自演讲部分

5 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

6 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

7 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 statutes   

成文法( statute的名词复数 )； 法令； 法规； 章程

参考例句：

• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Each agency is also restricted by the particular statutes governing its activities. 各个机构的行为也受具体法令限制。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 intruding   

v.侵入，侵扰，打扰( intrude的现在分词)；把…强加于

参考例句：

• Does he find his new celebrity intruding on his private life? 他是否感觉到他最近的成名侵扰了他的私生活？
• After a few hours of fierce fighting,we saw the intruding bandits off. 经过几小时的激烈战斗，我们赶走了入侵的匪徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

14 justifiable   

adj.有理由的，无可非议的

参考例句：

• What he has done is hardly justifiable.他的所作所为说不过去。
• Justifiable defense is the act being exempted from crimes.正当防卫不属于犯罪行为。

15 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。

16 apprehend   

vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑

参考例句：

• I apprehend no worsening of the situation.我不担心局势会恶化。
• Police have not apprehended her killer.警察还未抓获谋杀她的凶手。

17 sarcasm   

n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic）

参考例句：

• His sarcasm hurt her feelings.他的讽刺伤害了她的感情。
• She was given to using bitter sarcasm.她惯于用尖酸刻薄语言挖苦人。