Old felony charge with warrant
Question: I have an old felony charge that is from San Fernando Court. I think there may be a warrant out for my arrest as well. At the time of my initial arrest I was let go and I was supposed to go to court about two months later. I went to court and there was nothing for me there. I thought that was the end of it. I recently found out that they ended up changing the court date and now there is a warrant for my arrest. How do I handle it from here? Is something that you can help me with? I now live out of state, would I still need to come to court if I hired you to handle this for me?
Answer: This is not an uncommon situation. Sometimes the District Attorney’s office does not file the charges in time for the court date listed on your citation and/or bail receipt. For felonies, generally speaking, the Prosecutor has three years from the offense date to file charges. There are some exceptions to that.
With your case, there is a process to handle your case moving forward, including getting the warrant recalled, the case put back on calendar, and then defending your case. Based on the time that has passed by, there may be some additional creative defenses that can be brought forward to possibly lead to the case getting dismissed.
In regards to handling this without you present, it really depends on certain factors, including what your felony offense is. On most misdemeanors I can represent clients in court without them present, with the client’s permission of course. With Felonies there generally needs to be specific approval by the Judge. There are many variables that come into play on this issue. This includes how long the case has been in warrant status. The fact that you live out of state will be helpful on this issue. Also, since it was a “late filing” that will be helpful too.
Call me at (818) 336-1384 for a free consultation to speak about your case in more detail what would be involved in me defending you in this matter. Once I have more information about your situation, the charge(s), when you were initially arrested, etc., I can then give you more concrete information.
Sincerely,
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