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Bench Warrant Issued While I was incarcerated!!!

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lobster1979

Junior Member
State: Pennsylvania

Hi, I was incarcerated for a F3 (Burglary) back in, I think it was November of 2003 and I got out March of 2004. I was sentenced to 6 to 23.5 months and have already finished my parole. I also had another charge which I was arraigned for in April 2003 and had my preliminary hearing in September 2003. Now that you have a vague idea of the past, here is what happened.

December 2006 I get a call from my Public Defender stating that I had an outstanding arrest warrant. The arrest warrant was issued December or January while I was incarcerated. I was told to put on a suit 4 times while incarcerated. Always ended up taking it off around 8pm. I was never called to the courtroom. So my Public Defender states that I would need to go to court to get the bench warrant annulled. I told him that I had forgotten to leave the address I would be living at with the court clerk after I was released. He told me that didn't really matter, something about lack of diligence something or another, they had my address at the Parole/Probation office and the Clerk would and should have known they would be able to find my address there. SO around April I call my public defender up again to ask why I haven't been called to court yet. He says that the court just forgot about me. That was early April. It's now been 2 months and I still haven't gotten any notifications.

He also mentioned that I would be able to file for a dismissal of the Misdemeanor charges. I don't know how. Can someone please explain this to me and what I should be doing...

My company plans to send me to Korea to get trained to repair a packaging machine because there are no technicians in the US that are knowledgable enough to repair it. I am to leave in October. October is an eye blink away and I'm starting to get concerned. I would lose my job if I am not able to go for that training and plus I would lose it anyways if they found out that I have a warrant out for my arrest. Everyday is like living in hell at this point. I am stressed out and almost at my breaking point. I just want to get this done and over with.
 
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stephenk

Senior Member
Hire an attorney to take care of the problem. The Public Defender's office will only help you once you get arrested on the warrant.
 

lobster1979

Junior Member
I don't know.. I had the public defender since the preliminary hearing. It just seems as if he isn't doing anything and I don't have funds to hire a lawyer at this point. I'll get paid more if I go through with the training but there is that bench warrant preventing me from leaving the country. Is there any way for me to check to see if there still is a bench warrant out for my arrest? Without getting arrested. Or even a process to go through where I submit a form explaining my situation to the court. This is just rediculous how long this is taking. And how long it took my Public Defender to realize that there was a bench warrant. He said that he totally forgot about me till this past December. That's 2+ years. It's now been 3 years.

Should I contact the DA's office? Is there anything I can do to rectify this situation. It's not like I've done anything wrong.

Also I've been through 3 check points and been in 2 minor and 1 major accident since my release from the County Jail. I've come out without any problems. This is really starting to make me think that there is no bench warrant.
 

outonbail

Senior Member
You're post is a little confusing. But if I'm reading it correctly, you were incarcerated for a case you either plead or were found guilty on, for about five months. This was back in the end of 2003 and beginning of 2004. That case is completely over with and you're not on parole or probation on that case.
You also mention a case which you appeared on back in April of 2003 and again in September of 2003. However you give no additional details. Has that case been resolved or is that the one which you were told a warrant was issued on?

You then proceed to state that in 2006, you were advised of an arrest warrant being issued in December or January of 2003, which at the time, you were already incarcerated for a different, unrelated case.
Was this arrest warrant issued by the same police agency, in the same county or by the same court as the case you were found guilty of and were incarcerated as a result of?

You state that you put a suit on four times while incarcerated as you were expecting to be brought to court. This is where I don't follow you. You were incarcerated in 2003 - 04, but you claim that you learned about the arrest warrant in 2006, when the public defender who handled you're other case called and informed you of this. So if you only learned about the warrant in 2006, what case were you putting on a suit for back in 03 & 04? Was it the case you went to court on twice in 03, or are you saying that you actually have three cases. The one you've completed, the one you appeared for twice in 03 and now a whole new one, well not actually new as you were charged with it back in 03 & 04 but didn't discover this until 06? See why it's confusing?

Anyway, if this arrest warrant was issued at the end of 03, beginning of 04, and it was issued in the same county as the one you were already serving time in, I don't believe they would have released you from jail back in 04. While I can't say I'm familiar with Pa's procedures for releasing inmates, I can tell you that the jail/prison systems in California as well as many other states, make it a policy to run a nation wide warrant check on every inmate at the time of their release. If a warrant is issued the day before you're scheduled release date, they would discover this before they opened the door to let you into the street and you wouldn't be released without at least making an appearance before a judge on the case so the warrant could be pulled and you would be given a bail amount or released on you're signed promise to appear.

But it sounds as if you're saying that this wasn't done and the jail released you without addressing this outstanding warrant issue whatsoever, is this correct? Aside from the jail's unusual lack of concern over this outstanding arrest warrant, you have had you're identification run by law enforcement at checkpoints and during a couple of traffic collision investigations, yet no police officer has ever mentioned this outstanding warrant. Am I following you're chain of criminal events correctly so far?

If so, then the only person who has ever mentioned the existence of an outstanding warrant, is the public defender who handled the first case you did time on. Not only is he the only person to bring this warrant to you're attention, but he brings it up after having a sudden memory flashback, since he must have been aware of it back when it was issued in 03 or 04. Considering the fact that this public defender didn't do enough to keep you out of jail on the first case he was assigned to represented you on and his strange flashback abilities to discuss a case three years subsequent to his first involvement with it, I don't think I'd be turning to him for any future legal advice or representation but hey, that's just me.

Why don't you contact the clerk of the court, where this well hidden arrest warrant was supposedly issued, briefly explain the situation and you're confusion over it never being an issue before now if it does in fact exist. Then ask her/him if they can verify whether or not there is an open case for which an arrest warrant was issued on you. If they claim to be too busy at the moment, then ask them for a phone number or web site where you can call or log on to, in order to check for yourself. The clerk may ask for you're current phone number and address, so they can send a deputy to pick you up if the warrant does exist. You should also ask her what the procedure is to be added on to the court calender so you can speak to a judge and get this matter resolved so you put all this crime behind you and move on.

One phone call is all it usually takes, to receive an answer to you're simple question, so I suggest you make it immediately.
 

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