if i ignore my sopena will i go to jail?

Question

i recieved a sopena from a defense attorneywhat if i ignore it

Answer 1

You are going to be prosecuted. You have to comply with that kind of stuff. Do you really want a hefty fine and or going to jail? Come on man, whats the big deal? Unless you hiding something..

Answer 2

There is always a chance that nothing will happen.

There is always the chance that the case will be dismissed before you are called upon to testify. No call to testify means no reason to have been there, ergo no harm/no foul.

If you ARE called upon to testify and you do not show after having been properly served a subpeona, the judge will have no choice but to issue a warrant for your arrest for failure to appear.

If the case winds up going in the defendant's favor sometime thereafter, the subpeona is nullified and the warrant will be nullified as well. This doesn't necessarily mean you will not be arrested, as these days most warrants are issued via computer and it always takes more time to delete outdated warrants from the computer than it takes to input the new ones.

If the case winds up going into overtime while they await your arrest and/or appearance, you can be pretty sure that you will wind up facing charges of contempt, and jail time and a fine and quite often both.

And when the jail sentence is on a failure to appear for a subpeona, you will have to remain in jail until you finish testifying, even if you don't want to testify. If either the prosecution or the defense wishes for you to remain available for further questioning, you could wind up in jail until after the trial ends, however long that might take.

It's your choice whether or not to take that kind of chance, though.

Answer 3

A warrant will be out for you arrest. Although police or constables would probably not come marching to your pourch for one warrant, ever day after that you would have to worry about getting pulled over or having any run in with the police cause you would automatically go to jail when they run your name through their system and it flags. And don't listen to the other guy that says you don't have to go if its from a defense attorney. A subpoena is a command to appear at a certain time and place to give testimony upon a certain matter. Not something you have an option on depending on wheres it from.

Answer 4

Yes ,you can go to jail,or the court can send a police officer or two out and escort you to court where the judge will ask you for your reason for not showing up in court. If your answer is not satisfactory,off you go to the " iron bar hotel " for however long the judge deems necessary.

Answer 5

Yes , they would now upgrade it to contempt of court order.
If you have nothing to hide , if you could help resolve a case and punish the guilty as witness , or you are innocent of the charges , why ignore it .
You could not hide from the law , it will always catch up even how long it takes .

Answer 6

Without a Doubt

Answer 7

It depends, if you just received it in the mail, you dont need to worry about it, but if someone served you personally, then you need to show up... the chances of a warrant getting issued on you are VERY slim, but it is possible

Answer 8

Hopefully. Contempt of court isa crime--and as a citizen you have a civic duty and a moral/legal obligation to appear.

Answer 9

YOU DONT HAVE TO GO FOR A DEFENSE ATTORNEY. YOU ONLY HAVE TO GO IF IT SIGNED BY A JUDGE, OR FROM A COURT OF SOME TYPE. U R UNDER NO LEGAL REQUIREMENT TO ACKNOWLEDGE ANYTHING FROM A DEFENSE ATTORNEY......................HEY phantoms0084 CONSIDERING THAT I AM A POLICE OFFICE AND YOUR TRYING TO BECOME ONE I THINK I MAY KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. I GET SUBPOENAS FROM DEFENSE ATTORNEYS ALL THE TIME. IM UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO RESPONDED TO THEM. IF IT COMES FROM A JUDGE OR PROSECUTING ATTORNEY, I.E. THE STATED THEN AND ONLY AND THEN ARE REQUIRED TO SHOW.

Answer 10

Oh yeah. Depends on how bad someone wants you, of course. Next thing you know they could send a sheriff to pick you up at work, even