Breach Warrant Problem

[sloucho84]

I received a Summons for Possession of Alcohol in the Park (In New York City). My court date was for July 9th. Instead I opted to plead guilty by mail and send in the 25 dollars. I did this on June 14th. Just yesterday (the 24th) I received a letter in the mail dated July 20th and postmarked July 23rd that reads as follows:

"The Court cannot accept your guilty plea form or your check for the above referenced summonses. This process (Pleading Guilty by Mail) is allowed if "one" summons is issued for "one" specific offence (AC 10-125 2b). The Police Office should not have given you a Plea Form with the summonses. You need to appear at the New York County Criminal Court on 07-09-2007 as indicated on your summonses. Failure to appear may result in warrants being issued for your arrest."

To clarify above, I was only issued one summons although, I was with my roommate so maybe they were mistaken thought that was the second summons? He kept forgetting to mail it in so he went to the court date and paid it up no problem. I did not go to the court date because I thought I was paid up.

I called the Summons info line and they confirmed that there is a warrant out for my arrest and I have to come in to the courthouse. My question is if I go in, will I be arrested and put in a holding cell before my hearing? If that is so, is there a way I can avoid possibly being arrested? I'd like to know this information before I go in to clear this up and nobody answered the phone the last two times I called the info line.

[outonbail]

Originally Posted by sloucho84

I received a Summons for Possession of Alcohol in the Park (In New York City). My court date was for July 9th. Instead I opted to plead guilty by mail and send in the 25 dollars. I did this on June 14th. Just yesterday (the 24th) I received a letter in the mail dated July 20th and postmarked July 23rd that reads as follows:

"The Court cannot accept your guilty plea form or your check for the above referenced summonses. This process (Pleading Guilty by Mail) is allowed if "one" summons is issued for "one" specific offence (AC 10-125 2b). The Police Office should not have given you a Plea Form with the summonses. You need to appear at the New York County Criminal Court on 07-09-2007 as indicated on your summonses. Failure to appear may result in warrants being issued for your arrest."

To clarify above, I was only issued one summons although, I was with my roommate so maybe they were mistaken thought that was the second summons? He kept forgetting to mail it in so he went to the court date and paid it up no problem. I did not go to the court date because I thought I was paid up.

I called the Summons info line and they confirmed that there is a warrant out for my arrest and I have to come in to the courthouse. My question is if I go in, will I be arrested and put in a holding cell before my hearing? If that is so, is there a way I can avoid possibly being arrested? I'd like to know this information before I go in to clear this up and nobody answered the phone the last two times I called the info line.

Go to court and bring this letter with you to show to the judge. Since you were given the plea form it should be understandable that you were under the impression that you could use it. The court is basically saying that the police officer erred in giving you this option, so you should have no problem as long as you address the situation immediately and don't put it off.

[sloucho84]

Thanks!

But mainly I was wondering if you have a breach warrant and make a voluntary return, do they detain you until your hearing? I know that reasonably I should be ok, but things happen and I want to make sure I don't have to deal with them messing up yet again.

[outonbail]

Originally Posted by sloucho84

Thanks!

But mainly I was wondering if you have a breach warrant and make a voluntary return, do they detain you until your hearing? I know that reasonably I should be ok, but things happen and I want to make sure I don't have to deal with them messing up yet again.

First of all, I believe you're referring to a bench warrant, not a breach warrant. A breach warrant is I believe, what is issued in Canada and possibly Europe, but in the states, it is called a bench warrant. This is issued by a judge, when a defendant fails to appear as per court orders or per their signing a promise to appear (Like when you sign a traffic ticket) Your signature is not an admission of guilt, simply a promise to appear on the date and the location noted on the citation.

As far as your situation goes, the forum crystal ball broke a couple years back and since that time our ability to see into the future is quite limited. However, any time there is a warrant out for someone's arrest, they can be taken into custody by any police officer, sheriff, constable, state trooper, highway patrol etc. So you could be stopped on your way into court to take care of this matter and the officer stopping you could help you arrive, only you would be wearing handcuffs for the rest of the drive there. This is of course, not the preferred method as it will appear to a judge that you had to be drug into court rather than showing genuine concern for the situation and appearing voluntarily to resolve the issue. When you appear voluntarily, there is less of a chance you would have to post bail to ensure your return, since you are there on your own free will to begin with.

What I suggest you do is to call the court clerk and ask how you would go about being placed on the calender, so you can appear before the judge to resolve this issue. It may be you only have to show up when the court house opens at seven or eight in the morning and get on line. Or, possibly the clerk can place you on calender and give you a date to appear over the phone. The only way to find out is to call and ask the busy person, as nicely and as to the point as you can. They don't want to hear all about the reason you didn't appear when you were originally supposed to, so just save all that for the judge.

Remember though, even if you are given a date to appear on the original charge, the warrant will still be in place until you go before the judge.

If you can't get through no matter how often or what time you call, then I suggest you just show up when the court opens up in the morning and ask to be placed on calender.

Just be sure you have someone else drive you there and don't leave anything cooking on the stove when you leave.