Ever Miss A Court Date? UPDATE

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Ever Miss A Court Date? UPDATE

Posted: 9/24/2005 8:41:27 AM EDT

A couple months ago, I was casually headed to Home Depot on a Saturday afternoon. Less than a mile from home, on a rural two lane road, I ran into a license check. Turns out my tag had expired. State Trooper writes ticket, and states that if I show up to court with evidence that I have renewed my tag that the $125 fine would be dropped. Monday morning, I promptly went and renewed my registration.

Fast forward two months later....I forgot all about the court date this past Tuesday. It dawned on me yesterday afternoon that I missed court, and I may actually have a warrant out on me. This blows. I have a squeaky clean record. Never been fingerprinted, posed for a mug shot, or even been in handcuffs. I called the magistrate's office as soon I realized that I missed my date, and some lady told me to show up next Friday between 9-11 am to take care of it.

How concerned should I be over this infraction?

Any chance of showing up next Friday only to be cuffed and stuffed?

Posted: 9/24/2005 8:48:53 AM EDT

[#1]

Yep, 20 to life.

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:11:19 AM EDT

[#2]

I'm not worried about not being able to promptly get out of jail, or even being able to afford to pay any additional fines or fees. I just don't want to go through the mugshot and fingerprinting process. I hope I am simply overreacting, but I still think it's a trap.

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:17:40 AM EDT

[#3]

Dude you're in deep shit.

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:20:27 AM EDT

[#4]

nope, don't worry about it, show up with proof of taking care of it and in particular WHEN you took care of it (i.e., receipt) and I bet you're good

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:20:35 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Any chance of showing up next Friday only to be cuffed and stuffed?

Just show up at your next court date. Nothing will happen to you.

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:40:58 AM EDT

[#6]

got a FTA back in '95, with the result that i'm the only person in history to go to jail for a state inspection sticker!

Posted: 9/24/2005 9:45:05 AM EDT

[#7]

Alot of cities and towns will allow you to appear at the next scheduled court court date.

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:03:44 AM EDT

[#8]

Cope: The law most likely won't do anything, ie if you're upstanding citizen and was just an oversight. They may tack on some extra fines as part of the process though.

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:14:36 AM EDT

[#9]

Quoted:
nope, don't worry about it, show up with proof of taking care of it and in particular WHEN you took care of it (i.e., receipt) and I bet you're good

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:43:26 AM EDT

[#10]

Get soap on a rope just in case

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:51:32 AM EDT

[#11]

I'd take plenty of cash with you jsut to be safe.

Posted: 9/24/2005 10:56:57 AM EDT

[#12]

I mean this in a funny way and don't mean to offend anyone:

Cope: Get ready for "Bubba" your new cell mate!

Posted: 9/24/2005 11:01:40 AM EDT

[#13]

I dont think you really had to show up to begin with.. The officer told you that you could go if you wanted the fine dropped. If you dont go then I would guess you just pay the ticket and go on with your life.

Posted: 9/24/2005 11:42:11 AM EDT

[#14]

It shouldn't be a big deal. Just do what the lady on the phone said. People miss court all the time. They will probably call for "everybody that missed court" to line up early to talk to the clerk and check in. Just be prepared to sit there a long time for your case to come up. It's just traffic court, not criminal sourt. Even if you never showed up they would probably just send you soem kind of nastygram telling you that you missed court and then finally suspend your license for failure to satisfy a citation.

Posted: 9/24/2005 11:54:07 AM EDT

[#15]

I spent 30 hours in Maricopa County jail for missing a pre-trial conference - not even a court date. Just a sit down with the prosecuting atty. And it cost me $1400 before I was done with everything. Small towns suck butt.

I also spent 14 hours in Washoe County jail for an insurance ticket. And I had my bail bond in cash with me. I was supposed to check, get printed and photographed and turned loose. Ends up that INS did a county wide sweep and netted 700 illegals and processed them through county. I got lost in the shuffle.

Yeah, if anything good ever happened to me, my luck would have to change drastically.

I would call the court and explain. You'll probably be okay - but don't take chances. I have spent more time in jail for BS things than I would ever want to.

Posted: 9/24/2005 11:12:43 PM EDT

[#16]

I work in a court house, missing a court date, is basicly telling the judge, fuck you, I've got better thing to do, or it's just so unimportant I forgot.
now having said that, show up for your next court date, bring lots of cash for bail, you may need it, hopefully you won't. if you quaify for a public defender, go to their office and apply for their services, first thing monday morning, and explain what happened, they could give you better advise than anyone here.

Posted: 9/25/2005 4:45:31 AM EDT

[#17]

It happens all the time. If you don't want to pay a lawyer, just show up, apologize, (you did miss an appointment, and that's rude), and show the registration. I'd say it's pretty unlikely anything bad will happen to you. You may not even be talking to the judge about it. Again, it happens all the time, and the fact that you renewed the tag in 2 days shows that you aren't a jackass or scofflaw.

Posted: 9/25/2005 4:50:54 AM EDT

[#18]

Dude, it's bail or jail in my parts.

$500 full cash

Posted: 9/25/2005 5:02:58 AM EDT

[#19]

It depends on what state you are in, and in some places what county within that state. If the clerk told you to just come in on Friday, you should be fine. If you are REALLY worried about it, just go to your local PD, and ask if you have a warrant. Just make sure you bring enough money to bond out if you do. From what you said it sounds like you will be fine just going in on Friday.

Posted: 9/25/2005 7:06:43 AM EDT

[#20]

I had the opposite, the court missed me !

Well I showed up to court last Monday 9/19 for a ticket issued on 9/1. Short thread at www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=391687

I was thinking of just walking out considering myself lucky but was concerned maybe I was in the system under a misspelled name or my citation number was entered incorrectly. If that was the case, I'd have a FTA warrant issued, so I pleaded guilty anyhow just to have proof I was there and have to keep an eye on their citation tracking system to see if my case ever gets entered. After a week it hasn't, knock on wood.

So far I'm covered: if the citation shows up in the system, I got a prayer for judgement in hand, if it doesn't I walk, if the court comes after me later on for a FTA I got documentation that I did show up.

So in short I pleaded guilty and got a prayer for judgement for a case that doesn't exist

Didn't pay any fine or court costs yet because the citation number has to be in system before the court cashier takes your money.

Posted: 9/25/2005 7:47:14 AM EDT

[#21]

Truthfully. You might have to post bond to guarantee your next court appearance. It happened to me one time. I posted $50.00 bond and no arrest was involved. I pled guilty in court and was fined $25.00. I got $25.00 back. Don't sweat it.

Posted: 9/25/2005 7:55:56 AM EDT

[#22]

This is what happens. One gives a shit, except the next time your pulled over and the cop runs your info, you will be arrested for and outstanding. There may or may not be someting is the mail giving youi anther chance to pay. The best thing to do is show up tomorrow, not at the court room, but the place where you pay the fines. Bring lots of cash and take care of it. They want the money first, you in jail last.

Posted: 9/25/2005 8:01:16 AM EDT

[#23]

Tagged for next Friday

Edited for spelling

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Ever Miss A Court Date? UPDATE

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