probation violation..and not caught by cop? is this possible?please help?

Question

I was arrested and convicted for shoplifting back in 2004.
It may be very weired and funny to you guys but i did not know i have to do the 10 days of community service. At that time i merely spoke english and i thought paying $400 of fine was all.
So i did not do the community service and i never received any letter from the court about community service. In fact, i moved to another place after few months later of the date of convict.
How i find out that i have to do community service is that i went to the courthouse to get a disposition letter because i needed it for the US naturalization application. I read it through and i found out i was sentenced to 10days of community service.
I asked about it here on Yahoo!Answers and people said there must be a bench warrant issued for me. But the thing is that i was caught by police twice for the traffic violation but they never mentioned about bench warrant nor arrested me.And it happened recently.Is this possible? What should i do now?

Should i contact a lawyer about it? or should i go to police station or courthouse to find out what happended?
Should i get arersted immediately when i walk into courthouse or police station?
and If anyone knows a good lawyer in northern NJ area please recommned..thank you..
OH btw, if i get a lawyer how much cost should i expect?
thank you very much.

Answer 1

You should have been provided a copy of your rules of probation when you were sentenced which would've included any community service time. There is a possibility that the judge issued a "Failure to Comply" warrant. Not knowing the language is not an excuse for not knowing your sentence. At the hearing you were read your rights and asked if you understood them. If you did not, the Court would've had to provide you with the proper interpreter. Your best bet would be to call your probation officer or community service case worker and find out what is going on with your case. You may not need to hire a lawyer - a simple phone call may solve your problems and be a lot cheaper than hiring an attorney.

Answer 2

PLEASE READ:
I’m looking thru NJ’s laws as we Yahoo/speak, but I do know that here in CA a warrant must be $5k+ in order to arrest you. $4,999 and below is a citable warrant, which means you go get fingerprinted at the Police Dept and given a court date when you will be able to give your explanation the judge. However, (once again in CA) not completing a “program” (here community service is considered a program since they named it Community Service Program) can be considered an “escape”. Here an escape is an automatic 12 months, but I don't mean to scare you because if your record is “not that criminally bad”, depending on the judge, A LOT of ppl DO get a second chance.
I also know that since this is considered a very old case (2004), if you are remanded (arrested) in court or (even better) if you turned yourself in at the Sherriff’s Dept (all warrants show up there), you would only serve a sentence of a few days. *10dys Comm Svc = 3-4dys incarceration* Turning yourself in looks SO MUCH better in your defense, and here’s a “2-thumbs-up” suggestion… turn yourself in on a Friday, chances are you’ll have court Monday (Tuesday at the very latest), and (being in custody all weekend) you’ll be released that evening.
SEARCH NJ ARREST WARRANTS HERE (no guarantee it’ll show/worth a try):
http://www.criminal-records-search.com/newjersey-criminal-records/
Ok… I’ve done some NJ research, and it doesn’t seem too much different from our CA judicial system, which seems to me like “good news”.
For example, on this lawyer’s site ( http://www.jfrlaw.com/municipal.htm ) near the bottom of the page, I read:
By law, the Judge must order community service for certain traffic offenses and may order community service for a criminal conviction. The defendant must work for a municipality or non-profit organization for a certain period of time, without compensation. Failure to perform community service may result in the case being returned to court. Some community service sentences are supervised by the Probation Division of the Superior Court.
Aside from that quote, I found all the same ultimate answers in all my NJ searches. But if my suspicions are correct, I would not spend a single dime on a lawyer for such a small case, and being an old one at that. Trust me on this! And good luck to you!!!

Answer 3

Lawyer up, and find out what your terms and conditions of probation are, including how long your term is.

You also want to take this back to court as soon as possible, don't put it off, because your next police contact can wind up being in an arrest (i.e. warrant may be come active). You also mentioned you moved (possibly out of the area?). If you moved out of the area, this comes to mind two things, your previous contact with police may not have turned up an active warrant, especially if you live out of state or even out of county, or assuming they even ran you for wants and warrants. And also, while on probation it is usually a term that you need to get permission to move out of that area, which will mean a violation for you. If you are still in the area, it is typically a term that you notify them of your current whereabouts (which will also mean a violation).

Answer 4

Your best bet is to discuss this with a lawyer. You want to get this cleared up, but you don't want to get arrested again. I'm fairly sure there is no bench warrant for you. If you were in the same state when you got pulled over the cops would have picked you up for it when they ran your license. I don't know any lawyers in NJ. I think you are looking at about $1,000 to clear this up. See if you can get a free consultation with a lawyer. He/she will be able to answer your questions.

Answer 5

get the paperwork from the court,, go do the community service then give it all to the clerk of the court then request to see the judge to get your case closed, a lawyer will cost you around 2500 dollars,, do what i say it will cost you ten days of picking up trash on weekends

Answer 6

What should i do now? - Do the community service. Sounds like you may have lucked out and slipped through the cracks. Contact the court and take care of it.

Answer 7

go get your self a lawyer,.....as for what it will cost, it is unknown as not all lawyers charge the same fee,.....