I was just walking from the grocery store to my car across the street and got stopped. My court date got canceled due to bad weather and I never heard anything until 5 years later I got a letter threatening to issue a warrant.
I wasn't doing anything wrong and am refusing to pay. I might consider community service since that's benefiting people in general not just the police.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm wondering if I should plead not guilty and see if the cop doesn't show up, or maybe I can just spend a day in jail, or maybe I can do community service, or will it eventually just get erased from my record? But I don't agree with the ridiculous fine and as a college student I can't afford to pay it anyway.
2007-09-07 09:26:17 · 5 answers · asked by NB 1 in Politics & Government ➔ Law Enforcement & Police
The cop only needs to show up if you subpoena him. It is a fallacy that you can get out of criminal charges if the cop doesn't show up.
"I wasn't doing anything wrong and am refusing to pay." - You were violating the curfew. Apparently that is wrong where you live. If you fail to pay fines for a criminal charge, you could end up in jail.
2007-09-07 09:33:39 · answer #1 · answered by davidmi711 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
You fail to mention your age at the time of the "status offense". Since you are now a college student, and the offense took place five years ago, it seems likely that as a "juvenile offender"(?), this matter should have already been "sealed" under Texas Law.
Contact the District Attorney's Office and inquire about this matter. It sounds like someone has finally been able to "catch up" on their paperwork, but failed to "do their math" before "threatening" to issue a warrant. It is highly unlikely that the D.A.'s Office will want to have someone arrested for what should have been only an inconvenient fine five years ago!
2007-09-12 11:06:14 · answer #2 · answered by redheadedstepchild 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you took this to court, the state would have to prove the case against you beyond a reasonable doubt. You don’t have to prove anything. So if the cop is the only one who can give evidence to show that you committed the offence and he doesn’t show, case dismissed, you win.
This is a minor ticket, and based on my experience, the court will not let you take an alternate punishment. The court cannot send you to jail; that would (probably) be an illegal sentence. They don’t want you to do community service, because then they have to set a deadline, then when something happens and you can’t get it done on time, you have to come back to answer a contempt complaint. The easiest way for them to punish you is to make you pay the ticket.
If you do nothing, they can put a warrant out for you. That is not good. If you happen to be speeding through a bad part of town and get pulled over, you will be taken to jail. Even if you don’t get caught, you will have to clear this up before they let you renew your driver license. That means turning yourself in, posting bond, and paying 10 percent of your bond to a bondsman.
2007-09-07 09:55:30 · answer #3 · answered by BRS 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I don't know WHAT some of the others are talking about...the warrant is NOT a contempt of court...it is a failure to appear for your initial court date on the citation...it is NOT a sealed record just because you were a juvenile at the time...the Officer is NOT required to attend the hearing and he is NOT subject to subpoena for a citation...the citation IS his testimony and he would have provided a signed affidavit to the Judge stating that he had cause to stop and cite you...and the fact that you were out and about during curfew hours ALREADY finds you guilty prima facia (look it up)...call the court, pay the fine, and stop the whine..!!
2007-09-15 07:00:52 · answer #4 · answered by J.I.M.M.Y 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The alternative is not to pay it, get a warrant issued for contempt of court and eventually go to jail.
2007-09-07 09:51:10 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋