what happens if you dont appear in court as a witness?

Question

i was supposed to appear in court as a witness today and didnt attend can anyone tell me what might happen over this.

Answer 1

yeah you could be held in contempt of court.
you are ORDERED TO APPEAR, its not an option for you to dismiss at your convenience.

Whether a punishment will be handed down is up to the judge.

Answer 2

Unless you have a very good reason, illness with a Dr's certificate, you could be found in contempt of the court. It is entirely up to the judge and how important to the case your testimony was. The judge could impose a fine, or you could be jailed for showing this kind of contempt for the court. You cannot just say you did not want to go because you did not feel like it. The judge will issue a notice that you must answer, giving the reason's why you did not attend. There are several reasons which one could give which might be legitimate, as in your direct relative, mother, Father, wife etc was taken suddenly ill or they died. You will be asked to take an oath to give the reason for your not being there. I wish you well, very silly thing to do though. Good luck

Answer 3

Depends entirely on which type of court.If its a crown court or high court you can be arrested on the word of the judge for contempt as a subpoena will have already have been served.A magistrate can issue a witness summons and if you ignore that an arrest warrant can be issued you can then be held in custody until the next court.

Answer 4

Depending on the court (Crown or Mags)...and the nature of the case. The trial may have been vacated and another trial date will be set.

You may then be warned out again...but the likelyhood is that if you didn't have a valid excuse for not attending todays trial, a summons may be issued as a matter of course.

If this happens, I would suggest you attend next time as if you fail to heed it, you are liable to be arrested for contempt of court and it could result in you spending a bit of time behind bars.

Answer 5

the court magistrate or judge can issue a summons for you to attend the court, or if they feel necasary for your evidence they can issue a warrant for your arrest, to be held overnight i nthe police station until the court date.
Then after theyve made yuo attend they can charge you and convict you then and there for contempt of the court, and add a further sentance if you do not giv evidence.

Or a criminal case doesnt continue as the witness doesnt attend and the defence soplicitor argues that your are witholding the vital evidence of a case (even if you didnt see anything) and the case collapses and you are essentially responsible

Answer 6

You can be arrested for contempt of court and appear before the judge and explin why you didn't attend. You can be fined or imprisoned depending on the seriousness of the case.

Answer 7

Were you ordered to attend by subpoena ( a form of summons ) If not I do not think anything. If you were ordered to attend and failed to do so you can be arrested and charged with Contempt of Court and you will need a good excuse. If you have not got one you could find yourself a guest in one of her Majesty's Hotels for a maximum of I think 6 months

Answer 8

you will be served with another summon. One gets three summons for appearing. If you do not appear on third call / summon then court may drop you from witness list & if need be court may issue an arrest warrant & can compel you to attend court.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

They will issue a warrant for your arrest! You are responsible to appear when called as a witness! Ask and seek attorney's advice. You could also be charged with a fine.

Answer 11

you will be held in contempt-you will be brought before the bench to explain your actions. a bit steep i know but what you have to realise in that with you not showing up the case could have been thrown out (if you are the main witness then it would have been thrown out) and neither the police nor the CPS (crown prosecution service) would be impressed with you. in a worse case scenario you could be sent to prison.