Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in Washington

Re: law

Moving a case from one court to another is called a �change of venue.� Under the court rules that deal with prosecution of misdemeanors (CrRLJ 5.2), a venue change is only possible under limited circumstances, and the defendant voluntarily moving to another city or state is not one of them.

Another issue you need to think about is whether you must receive the court�s permission in advance to leave the state. Depending on your record of attending court hearings, your prior criminal history (if any), and the nature and severity of the alleged offense, a restriction on travel outside of the county (or state) may be one of the pretrial conditions the court has placed upon you.

I think that if you don�t have an attorney representing you in this action, now is definitely the time to get one. If you do move away, your attorney can handle the case in your absence and can perhaps get you excused from attending some of the minor pretrial hearings. But I will tell you that a few courts strictly require defendants to attend each and every preliminary hearing no matter how brief it may be. Missing a court hearing will result in a bench warrant being issued. So my ultimate recommendation is that you hire a lawyer and get this case resolved as soon as possible before you move.