Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: Failure to appear

Tell the courtroom clerk (or have your lawyer tell the clerk) about your problem. Maybe they will call the other courtroom you are supposed to be in. Or ask for an official file-stamped note saying you were in Courtroom X on that date.

Re: Failure to appear

This sort of thing happens fairly often and can be resolved easily enough -- if you get started as soon as possible after realizing the conflict.

Assuming this court date is in the future, you should tell your lawyers about the problem and have them make arrangements to move one of the dates.

If you are representing yourself, stop and go get a lawyer (defending yourself in even one case is usually a bad idea, but trying to handle two different cases in two different locales is inviting disaster) and then have her call the prosecutors and make the arrangements.

If you insist on doing this yourself, call the prosecutor in the case where the court selected the date second (after the other court had already scheduled you for that date) and explain the situation to him. Be prepared to prove that the other court wants you on the same day. He will probably agree to continue the hearing to another date, and you may need to sign some papers to make this happen. If he does not agree, ask the other prosecutor.

If neither agrees, refer back to the third paragraph of this answer.

Court conflicts: not FTA

No, a willful failure to appear cannot be found where you are ordered by another court to be present there. However, there is a heirarchy of courts and appearances. Felony cases take precedence over misdemeanors. First settings take precedence over later settings (ie, the court that set the date first takes precedence over the court that set you on a date you already had court). Also, trial dates or prelim dates supercede pre-trials. Co-Defendant cases (especially if they are in custody) take precedence over out-of-custody single defendat cases. And finally, dates where you were personally present and ordered back take precedence over dates set in your absence.

If you are representing yourself, you should appear the day before on one case and have your case "advanced" -- that is, go to teh clerk's office before 8 am; have the file sent into the courtroom, and then go tell the prosecutor (go to the DA's office in the court) that you are doing this. They'll send the prosecutor's file in to the courtroom so they can handle your case. GO to the court and the judge that you cannot be present in that court as ordered the following day because you are alsp ordered to be in another court that date. They will either handle your matter at that time, or they will continue your matter to another later date, either way obviating the need for your presence in two courts the following day.

If you didn't do that, which you SHOULD, then, after having missed court on one case, the following morning you should appear at the clerk's office before 8:00 am and have your case sent into court. Again, go tell the CA or DA to get their file into court for you. Bring with you the docket print-out proving you were in court the previous day, and ask the Judge in the court you missed to recall the bench warrant because you missed as a result of having been ordered into another court. DO NOT DELAY in getting back in front of the court you missed, because they can recall a bench warrant with little problem the following day; after that, warrant actually goes out, and it's expensive to issue and expensive to recall the warrant a couple of days later. As such, the judge will be less open to just recall the warrant and not punish you for causing the warrant to go out. You can't be found guilty of a failure to appear when you're ordered into another court. But the following day, if you don't go straight to the court you missed, you can be found guilty for not appearing as soon as humanly possible.

If you were represented by an attorney, this would be much easier, but if not, just follow these directions. If you need further help or want more specific advice, contact me with the details of your cases and I'll advise you on which court to go to first (and when), and how to best proceed on your own.

Good luck!

JACQUELINE GOODMAN RUBIO

www.californiadefenselawyer.net

[email protected]

(714)879-5770

Re: Failure to appear

yes, but the court may excuse it. get a copy of the transcript and docket from the other court. you should have called the court you missed. hire an attorney to recall the warrant.