8y/o Theft Prop by Check Appearance Hearing Notice??? Need Help ASAP!

[ponies4kids]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TEXAS.
I am in Texas and just received an Appearance Hearing notice for Theft Prop>=$20<$500 By Check. Funny part is it is supposedly for a check from 12/31/2005!?! I know there is a 2 year statute of limitations on misdemenor check charges and I show that they have that part covered since I show under Other Events and Hearings a date of 08/17/2006(information (OCA). Statute shown for this charge is 31.03(E)(2)(All)PC, level Class B Misdemeanor. Can someone explain what everything in parenthesis after 31.03 covers? Also, correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the Statute of Limitations exist so that we do not have to answer for something YEARS after the fact? And if they did in fact file this within the time frame, notice was sent for a court date (no matter if I received it or not), and a hearing was in fact held then why was a warrant not issued for me on the charge when I did not show up for court? Any assistance or help with this will be greatly appreciated!!

 

[swalsh411]

SoL is a defense. It does not prevent them from charging you. Did you ever resolve the matter of the bad check you wrote? How do you know you didn't have a warrant out for your arrest? It could have been a bench warrant. Those may fade away, but they don't expire. It sounds like you never took care of this in 2005 and now it's coming back to bite you.

 

[ponies4kids]

SoL is a defense. It does not prevent them from charging you. Did you ever resolve the matter of the bad check you wrote? How do you know you didn't have a warrant out for your arrest? It could have been a bench warrant. Those may fade away, but they don't expire. It sounds like you never took care of this in 2005 and now it's coming back to bite you.

Just got off the phone with them and they are saying it is a check for $120 to a horse sale December 2005 and that it was written on a closed account. Supposedly there was notice sent April or June 2006 but she did not see where there was a court date and/or Failure to Appear however she says a warrant was issued sometime in 2006. I have been arrested since 2005 (traffic ticket warrants..more than once and once for horse related issue which I recently went to court over) and am currently on felony probation. I do not understand why, if there was in fact a warrant for me over this check, I was never made aware of this warrant and/or arrested. What exactly do you mean by a bench warrant fading away? I have a hard time believing I was at a horse sale as far away as this one is from me and I honestly don't think I wrote a check on a closed account. For me to be in court will require making an almost 3 hour drive and I would really like to see this check prior to the court date which will be in 10 days....how do I go about requesting that information?

 

[CavemanLawyer]

The info after 31.03 refers to the specific part of the statute that applies. section (E)(2) of 31.03 just specifies that it is a class B misdemeanor. The abbreviation PC refers to penal code. I don't know what ALL stands for and it might be a county specific thing.

Have you been in Texas this entire time or during the times that you were arrested for other things? When a warrant issues it is entered into TCIC (Texas criminal database) and NCIC (National Criminal database) and designated as issuing state, issuing plus surrounding states, or all states. If you are not in Texas or a surrounding state and the warrant is not issued for all states, then the arresting officer probably will not know about the warrant. The Statute of limitations only applies to the time required to file the charge, and it looks like that was done within two years. Your claim now would be violation of a speedy trial due to lack of due diligence. If you left the State of Texas then that time does not count towards a speedy trial violation.

If you hire an attorney then he or she might be able to obtain some amount of discovery before your appearance date. Otherwise, no you cannot get anything before attending court. If you do not appear then a warrant will issue for your arrest.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Once a warrant is issued, it does not expire.