Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

Misdemeanor failure to appear in court

A couple of months ago, a friend was cited by a police officer on foot in Martin County Florida for ''resisting without violence'' because my friend did not stop when the officer called out to him - my friend is hard of hearing. Also, my friend was not a suspect in any crime and the officer did not charge him with anything else. Because my friend needed to return to California before his court date, he sent a certified letter to the Martin County Clerk asking if he could reschedule the court date or pay a fine. The clerk did not respond and my friend assumed the case was dropped. He now has just found out that there is a warrant for his arrest for failing to appear in court. We are hoping that it is a misdemeanor warrant but we do not know this at this time. What can he do to clear this up? He never intended to avoid going to court.


Asked on 12/24/04, 3:48 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Richard Hornsby Richard E. Hornsby, P.A.

Re: Misdemeanor failure to appear in court

This is a fairly simple matter. A warrant can be quashed without the need for your friend to fly back from California.

Also, based on what you have said, the warrant is definitely a misdemeanor warrant and likely has a "Do not Extradite Order" on it, meaning that while your friend can get stopped and even arrested in CA due to the outstanding warrant, he would end up being released as Florida would be unwilling to pay to have him brought back. I will need your friends name to look up the warrant though.

Also, based on what you have stated, there appears to be a legitimate suppression issue, where if we prevailed, your friend's case would be dismissed.

If we did not prevail on the suppression issue, a plea can be entered in abstentia, so your friend may not even need to fly back from CA.

Finally, you will need to retain an attorney to accomplish any of these matters. I would be happy to discuss the case with you or your friend, advise you or your friend as to the specifics of the warrant, and represent your friend if so desired. Feel free to call me at (407) 625-4676 any time.

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Answered on 12/28/04, 11:27 pm


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