Generally, in Florida, after you are arrested for any of a variety of crimes, you will be permitted to post bond, which is your way of assuring the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court that you will not disappear and will show up to all hearings and court dates after you are released from jail. Spending this time at home is much better for you than waiting in Lake County jail.
Missing a court date the judge has ordered is a serious and separate offense from the one that caused you to originally be arrested. Do not dismiss this missed date and tell yourself you will make the next one. With help from a Lake County failure to appear lawyer, you must resolve the issue now.
According to Florida Statutes § 843.15, failing to appear for a judicial hearing is a separate crime from the underlying crime you are already fighting. You immediately lose the bail money you posted, and if you utilized a bondsperson and only paid a percentage of the bail, with the bonding company footing the rest, they are looking for you. If the underlying crime that is the subject of the court date is a felony, you are adding another felony in the third degree for failing to appear. If the underlying crime is a misdemeanor, you are adding a first-degree misdemeanor to your infractions.
The judge will issue another notice to appear or a capias, which is a bench warrant for your arrest. The judge might also charge you with contempt if you do not clear up the matter.
Do not panic. Many factors influence the judge when dealing with this added charge. The first move you should make is to contact a Lake County failure to appear attorney as soon as possible. Your experienced criminal defense attorney can act quickly to rectify the matter by having the warrant recalled and communicating to the judge that you take your case seriously.
You may not have received notice because you moved or the post office lost it, you may have had a medical emergency, or you may have honestly mixed up the dates. Hoping the problem will go away is not going to work and only raises the risk of deputies or police officers arresting you at home or at work.
Will you be able to bond out after being arrested for failing to appear? The judge has the discretion to deny or approve your ability to bond out of jail and set a bond amount at your first appearance within 24 hours of your arrest on the bench warrant. When determining whether to allow a bond and for how much, the judge considers:
Failure to appear for a court hearing can be resolved with the help of an experienced Lake County lawyer. The best thing you can do is call us now to avoid additional charges and sanctions imposed by the court.
If your underlying charge is a misdemeanor, the additional first-degree misdemeanor charge for failing to appear can land you in jail for up to 12 months with a possible fine of up to $1,000.
The third-degree felony charge for failing to appear at a hearing concerning a felony charge adds the possibility of up to five years in prison and fines up to $5,000. As intimidating as these extra charges seem, a Lake County failure to appear attorney understands what you are going through and offers a steady hand to help you out of trouble.
Entanglement in the criminal justice system is made worse with one misstep; you missed a hearing because you had to work, or you were sick, or you just forgot. Now there is a warrant out for your arrest. Like the rest of us, you are human, and mistakes happen.
Do not let one mistake fester into another criminal charge. Your defense attorney can act swiftly to resolve the matter, but you must act swiftly and talk to us about it. If you were supposed to attend a court hearing about a criminal charge and you missed it, do not miss making an immediate call to our Lake County failure to appear lawyer.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys
