What to Do If You Were Convicted For Not Showing Up to Court in Philadelphia
Failing to appear for a court hearing in Pennsylvania is a serious offense. You can be held in jail for up to 72 hours during business days and even longer on weekends if you fail to appear for a scheduled court hearing. This can be for a probation violation or an ongoing criminal case. In addition, you can have your driver’s license suspended and your bail forfeited or revoked if you are deemed a flight risk.
There are two types of warrants issued that can hold you in detainment. The first type is a bench warrant that is issued by the judge that’s sitting on the bench that day that can be lifted by any judge. The other type of bench warrant can only be lifted by the specific judge who issued it. These exclusive bench warrants are usually issued in cases that require knowledge of a complex case or flight-risk history.
What Can an Attorney Do to Help Me?
The Law Offices of Richard J. Fuschino, Jr. can help anyone who misses a court date. Even if you don’t have a strong excuse, the judges can be persuaded to give you a second chance in most cases. But it takes the professional skill of an experienced attorney who can make the right statement on your behalf. Attorney Richard J. Fuschino, Jr., knows how to present the arguments for lifting bench warrants without punitive consequences.
In most cases, by hiring an experienced criminal defense attorney, you have already shown that you take the case seriously and that you are acting responsibly. The judges are more likely to see that you are not wasting the court’s time and that you are committed to seeing the case through. Whether you got caught in a traffic jam or were suffering from health issues, everyone deserves at least a second chance.
If this is your second mishap, you can at least show that you are working to resolve the issues by hiring an attorney. By maintaining your silence, it won’t be possible for arresting officers to twist your words around. In most cases, the bench warrants are only issued within a local vicinity at first and are rarely acted upon unless it is a serious case of flight risk or a lot of time has passed.
This means that most bench warrants can be lifted without having to spend any time in jail. If you try to lift the warrant by yourself, you can run into a lot of problems when officials don’t understand your rights and simply detain you when you enter the courthouse, which is why you need The Law Offices of Richard J. Fuschino, Jr. to help you out.