So essentially when Chris was arrested the police had finished their investigation and had gathered enough evidence that Chris had sex with his mother and had committed the crime of incest either through medical evidence, Barbara's testimony, or the audio recording of Chris talking to Bella.
Yes, they had gathered enough evidence for probable cause, which is not necessarily the same evidence needed to convict.
Probable cause == "A crime
probably happened, and this guy
probably did it."
Conviction == "We can prove he did it."
The officers who showed up to serve the EPO had been told about the allegations, but didn't witness any potential crime, and most likely nobody told them that they had witnessed a crime. If Barb had shouted out "He raped me!", they might arrest him, depending on how likely they thought it to be true.
An EPO can be issued with "reasonable suspicion". If hundreds of people are calling in with hearsay that a crime has been committed, one would probably have some reasonable suspicion. EPOs don't require much evidence because they're for emergency response (the "E" in EPO). Hundreds of people are saying Chris is raping Barb, boom, 3 day EPO. They are also saying that Barb is mentally incapacitated, extra 3 days tacked on.
The EPO doesn't charge Chris with a crime, and doesn't restrict him in any way other than in relation to Barb. While the EPO is in effect, Chris is free to travel, start a business, run for president, etc. The only other big restriction is that he's not allowed to buy or transport a gun ( § 18.2-308.1:4(A) ).
They then go back and examine what evidence they do have, determine that it constitutes probable cause, and get the warrant issued, then they go and arrest Chris.
Basically there's three stages to the process. Reasonable suspicion, probable cause, and proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Suspicion is when a cop detains you because he thinks you committed a crime. If he can't find probable cause, he has to let you go. If he does find probable cause, he can arrest you. Once you're arrested, they have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you committed the crime (i.e. a trial). If they can't, they have to let you go.
At the stage they were at on the 30th, they only had reasonable suspicion. That's enough to issue an EPO but not enough to arrest Chris.
As to what evidence they had to determine probable cause, we don't know. It could have just been the phone call. A nonjudicial confession alone is not enough to convict, but is enough to establish probable cause.
Even if Chris had left the house wearing a fake beard, carrying a duffel bag full of cash, and muttering to himself in mangled Spanish when they served the initial EPO, the cops still wouldn't be able to arrest him then and there?
None of these things are illegal. Though it would certainly raise suspicion and they might decide to review the evidence faster and immediately hit up the magistrate to get a warrant issued. The officer could claim exigent circumstances, but that would be a big stretch.
So let me ask you something. Lets say someone worked in a job that took them all over the place like a pilot or a trucker was a suspect in a murder or something like that, a job where you travel and could sneak off into the night at a moments notice. A literal flight risk in the case of a pilot. What would the police do in a situation like that? Just alert the US Marshals that they are doing an investigation on a certain individual and to be ready to track down a potential fugitive once they had determined probable cause and gotten a warrant? Sounds like they can't tell a guy who flies all over the world to not go to his job because they are trying to figure out if he is a killer.
Correct, although if he flew for an airline they could certainly politely ask the airline to put him on paid leave. Generally the government does not have the power to take away your rights on mere suspicion. An EPO doesn't apply because that's about protecting the rights of the victim, rather than restricting the rights of the person suspected.
Lots of people flee while they're under investigation but before a warrant has been issued.
Its very telling that of all of Chris's "enemies" Snyder is the only one he actually physically harmed, although it sounds like it was more of an accident brought on by Chris's stupidity than actual malice. Mary Lee Walsh expelled him from College and Officer Bagget actually slapped handcuffs on Chris and dragged him out of Target pants-less. For all the "harm" they did to Chris all he did was draw them into his crappy comic, have his self insert beat them up, and shoot an imaginary Curse-Ye-Ha-Me-Ha at them. Snyder did no harm to Chris other than tell him he wasn't welcome in a card and hobby store like so many other local business owners had done before. He didn't throw Chris out of higher education and harm his career path or wrestle him to the ground and toss him in a holding cell, but because he banned Chris from one of the few places he felt somewhat welcomed at, Chris would later run him over with his car.
Snyder didn't get run over because he had banned Chris. Snyder got run over because he was physically trying to stop Chris' car from leaving while Chris was trying to escape before the cops arrived. While it's obviously Chris and Barb's crime, Chris wasn't *targeting* Snyder.
So, if Chris is still in Jail after August 3rd, we can assume he is facing more charges?
It becomes far more likely, but we'd get confirmation for that from Circuit Court posting information online. Otherwise, if Chris stays any longer then it's because he's there voluntarily and they didn't kick him out immediately. They tend to kick people out though because if there's a whiff of them being kept against their will any longer, they can be sued.