Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in California

If you didn't appear in court when you were supposed to, you have an arrest warrant now. To handle a warrant, you MUST turn yourself in to the issuing court, with or without an attorney. On felony charges, the defendant must be personally present at every court hearing and appearance. On misdemeanors and infractions, an attorney can appear in court without the defendant being present � which is safer and avoids immediately being taken into custody. You�ll try to negotiate a recall of the warrant[s] and seek bail reduction or OR release. You�ll try to negotiate a plea bargain on any �Failure to Appear� charge or probation violation that caused the warrant. You�ll try to negotiate a plea bargain or take to trial the outstanding charge that caused the warrant. Turning yourself in voluntarily will result in a better outcome than being brought in chains to court after arrest on the warrant. That can happen if you come in contact with law enforcement or customs anywhere in the country. Effective plea-bargaining by your attorney, using whatever legal defenses, facts and sympathies there may be, could possibly keep you out of jail/prison, or at least dramatically reduce it, and may enable you to get your probation and programs reinstated. Unless you're competent to effectively represent yourself in court against a professional prosecutor trying to put you in jail, most people hire an attorney who can. If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, feel free to contact me.