Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maine

Re: Failure to Appear for court haring

If he read it in the newspaper, now, instead of having to appear once, he has to appear twice. If what he read was official service by publication [for example, if he ducked service], there is absolutely no excuse for not showing up.

Still, if he wasn't served with official notice, then he had no obligation to appear. Someone had to swear under oath that he was served for the Order to issue, so you need to investigate the real facts before swearing to the court that he was never served.

Best bet: get a local attorney with a good reputation to take him in and explain to the judge what happened. The judge does have the authority to compel attendance in some circumstances.