Legal Question in Criminal Law in Arizona

One night about 2 in the morning at the end of December I pulled into my driveway of my house, only to be confronted by a Police unit who pulled up in front of my driveway as I was parking my car. He confronted me to investigate an indecent exposure report that he said just happened north of me at the Park about 1/2 mile from my house. He said me and my car fit the description. After running my past arrest record he saw I had been arrested before for the same crime. They felt convinced I was their man so they arrested me. I told them I had just come from my work and I had two witnesses alibi of my whereabouts. They did not care. They released me on my own two hours later after booking me at their station. I showed up for court a month later as directed and was told by the information desk there was no record of my case and court date. She gave me a search report and said I would receive something in the mail if the case was to continue. Now a few weeks later I received a court date reminder notice in the mail from F.A.R.E. telling me I have a court date Feb. 28th. The next day I received in the mail I believe to be a supeona to appear. I did not sign for anything and have not been served anything. I did not open the sepoena notice envelope.

My question here is can I just send back the supoena notice as an undeliverable and not show up in court and what would be the consequences of that action. Also what is the best course of action to take in general.

Thanks,

Doug Johnsen


Asked on 2/16/12, 1:40 am

2 Answers from Attorneys
Jeremy Claridge Byrne & Benesch

In criminal matters, if a subpoena is issues and you don't show, the court doesn't care, they just issue a bench warrant. You really don't want a warrant for your arrest. A bench warrant in the state of Arizona is only good in Arizona. Since you live in AZ, you should appear. The state has the burden. The first thing I would do in your case is request a copy of the police report, just so you know what you are dealing with. You will be able to gague the amount of evidence that they have. Just because an officer cited you doesn't mean that a prosecutor has looked at it yet and feels there is sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. I suspect that the court date was miscalendared and they issued a subpoena to replace your original calendar date. Often times the prosecution will send out subpoenas when there has been a longform review of a police report and a subsequent complaint filed. I don't think that is the case here.

Look for eye witnesses that can give a description of the perpetrator. Look at the vehicle description they gave. If they said silver car and your car is gold, that is reasonable doubt. Look for the time of the call and whether your alibi is going to hold up. Advise of an attorney will be especially helpful in your case where the State's position may be very strong.

Best of luck.

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Answered on 2/16/12, 7:32 am
Kaitlin Verdura Verdura Law Group PLLC

You need to hire an attorney. Multiple convictions for incedent exposure can carry very serious consequences and impact sex offender registration requirements. If you failure to appear in court for your hearing, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. This means you can be hauled into jail at anytime if/when you come into contact with any type of law enforcement. It's not advisable to remain on warrant status. As a former sex crimes prosecutor here in Maricopa county, I can assure you that sex crimes charges require a specialized expertise. I stongly encourage you to retain experienced counsel. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Verdura Law Group PLLC

http://verduralaw.com

602-421-0515

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Answered on 2/16/12, 11:23 am


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