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Can't make it to court date, what can I do?

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jo8890

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I have a PFA hearing in PA next week.

At the first hearing, I was told that if I moved out of the state by June and stayed out of contact with the plaintiff that the order would be dropped.

I have moved out of state and have had no contact with the plaintiff.

However, the courthouse is over 1500 miles away. I work full time but I don't make much money, and there's no way I can fly/drive/anything out there and make the court date. I would very likely lose my job if I tried.

I already spoke to a lawyer about this, and to the PFA clerk at the courthouse, and I was told that there was nothing I could do but try and find a way to make it to the court date, but I wanted to get a second/third opinion.

Is there anything I can do in this situation?

I would at least like to submit a statement to the judge if possible letting her know that I've complied with what we discussed at the first hearing and moved out of state.
Is there a way that I can do that?

Thanks a lot in for your help.
 


justalayman

Senior Member
If you have had a local lawyer advise you what makes you think strangers on the Internet could provide anything more accurate or dependable?

Unless the court would allow a hired attorney make an appearance on your behalf I can't think of anything else other than showing up. Not showing up and failing to reschedule the hearing will likely result in a warrant for your arrest for failure to appear.
 

xylene

Senior Member
Why did you abruptly move out of state with a court case pending? Who told you this? :rolleyes:

You need to appear.

1500 miles is not that long a drive (2 days).

You need to hope your boss will be understanding or you need to find a new job.
 

quincy

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I have a PFA hearing in PA next week.

At the first hearing, I was told that if I moved out of the state by June and stayed out of contact with the plaintiff that the order would be dropped.

I have moved out of state and have had no contact with the plaintiff.

However, the courthouse is over 1500 miles away. I work full time but I don't make much money, and there's no way I can fly/drive/anything out there and make the court date. I would very likely lose my job if I tried.

I already spoke to a lawyer about this, and to the PFA clerk at the courthouse, and I was told that there was nothing I could do but try and find a way to make it to the court date, but I wanted to get a second/third opinion.

Is there anything I can do in this situation?

I would at least like to submit a statement to the judge if possible letting her know that I've complied with what we discussed at the first hearing and moved out of state.
Is there a way that I can do that?

Thanks a lot in for your help.
Is the hearing a "status" hearing, to evaluate the need for the PFA?

Did you ask the court clerk or the attorney about the possibility of appearing at the hearing telephonically? The attorney is not allowed to appear on your behalf? Did you ask the clerk or attorney about rescheduling the hearing for a time you COULD make it?

If the PFA was a civil court order (and not connected to a criminal charge), the PFA automatically expires in 3 years - but it can be dismissed earlier if there is no longer a need for it.

This could be the outcome if you appear in court and inform the court you no longer live in the state - and it is the outcome that benefits you the most, because it is also possible for the PFA to be extended on request/petition by the other party.

If other options for the hearing are not available, it would be a mistake for you to miss it. You will need to find a way to get to court on the scheduled date at the scheduled time or dire things can happen.
 

latigo

Senior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA

I have a PFA hearing in PA next week.

At the first hearing, I was told that if I moved out of the state by June and stayed out of contact with the plaintiff that the order would be dropped.

I have moved out of state and have had no contact with the plaintiff.

However, the courthouse is over 1500 miles away. I work full time but I don't make much money, and there's no way I can fly/drive/anything out there and make the court date. I would very likely lose my job if I tried.

I already spoke to a lawyer about this, and to the PFA clerk at the courthouse, and I was told that there was nothing I could do but try and find a way to make it to the court date, but I wanted to get a second/third opinion.

Is there anything I can do in this situation?

I would at least like to submit a statement to the judge if possible letting her know that I've complied with what we discussed at the first hearing and moved out of state.
Is there a way that I can do that?

Thanks a lot in for your help.
Among other things that confuse me why a "second hearing"?

Convention would see to have it that a temporary order was granted ex parte with the "first hearing" scheduled for the purpose of deciding whether it should continue in force. And obviously that did occur with the added provision you mentioned.

Yet that provision provides more confusion. Why would the judge tell you and/or order that the case would be dismissed if you leave the state and at the same time order you to personally appear in his court at a fixed subsequent date? (Did you exhibit signs of schizophrenia?)

Seriously, and this is not to be taken as advice, but what I would do is stay where you are, permanently! Such proceedings can at best be quasi-criminal and more than likely are strictly civil in nature. And neither endow the court with extraterritorial jurisdiction over your person nor the state with powers of extradition.

Call that attorney once more and ask what consequences might result if you don't show.
 

jo8890

Junior Member
Okay, let me provide some more detail here that will hopefully clear up any confusion.

At the hearing, I informed the judge that I was about to move (as in literally, the day after the hearing) to Colorado.

I don't want to put words in the judge's mouth, but the judge basically said that they didn't see anything in the evidence provided by the plaintiff to indicate that I was a threat to their safety.

So the judge said that if I had relocated as I said I was going to by June, and if I'd had no further contact with the plaintiff, that the order would be dismissed.

I moved like I said I would and have had no contact with the plaintiff.

This is my first involvement with the legal system, and I thought that first court date was basically going to be the whole deal, provided that I moved and didn't contact the plaintiff. I had asked before I left court if there was any paperwork I needed, and I was told there was not.

I was later contacted and told that there was paper work that I forgot at the court house that informed me of a second hearing scheduled for this month.

It may be hard for some people to understand, but there is no possible way for me to make the court date. I don't own a car, so I would have to fly. I do not have the money for a ticket and have no legal means of attaining the money for a ticket. Also, I just had to take time off work to relocate across the country, and I would not be able to take off the time needed for the court date. Losing my job, especially with no car and teetering on the edge of bankruptcy as I am, would be a short path to homelessness for me. I am not capable of making it to the court date.

I explained this to the PFA clerk and asked if there was anything I could do other than appear, and she said no. I asked her if I could appear over the phone/internet, and she said that I could not.

It seems to me that if there was some way that I could submit evidence to the court that I have a new address, and if the plaintiff doesn't allege that I've contacted her, then according to what the judge said, the pfa should be dropped. But like I said, I'm unfamiliar with the system, and I don't know if I can get that information to the judge without appearing in court, or if I'd have to hire a lawyer to submit it formally somehow, or if it would even make a difference one way or the other.

I'm looking for any advice or suggestions anyone may have about what I can do in this situation other than just going to the court date. If I could, I would. I would much, much prefer to be there to defend myself. It's just not possible.

As far as why I would ask strangers on the internet for advice when I've already spoken to a lawyer, I am not sure that I got the best possible quality of advice. I don't want to make assumptions, but the lawyer was female, and I got the vibe that as soon as she heard I needed advice about a pfa, she may have assumed I was guilty and not been as helpful as she could have.

Or maybe that wasn't going on at all. But it seemed prudent to try to get another opinion, and I can't afford to speak to another lawyer.

Thank you for your help.
 

latigo

Senior Member
Some times you just gotta to do what you gotta do. Since you don't gotta the money or the time to travel back to Pennsylvania then you gotta stay put. No one is going to place you under arrest. But do this:

Mail a certified letter (RR) letter to the judge in care of the clerk of the court explaining your circumstances. He or she won't even open it, but it will be in the court file showing the Colorado postmark.

Then get on with your life and quit stewing. It ain't murder one!
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
Some times you just gotta to do what you gotta do. Since you don't gotta the money or the time to travel back to Pennsylvania then you gotta stay put. No one is going to place you under arrest. But do this:

Mail a certified letter (RR) letter to the judge in care of the clerk of the court explaining your circumstances. He or she won't even open it, but it will be in the court file showing the Colorado postmark.

Then get on with your life and quit stewing. It ain't murder one!
Maybe even double the whammy by filing a motion to dismiss based on the fact that you have complied with the judges suggestion that if you moved out of state, the order would be dismissed, also explaining in the motion that you are not in a position to return for the hearing. Again, its unlikely that it will result in much of anything, but at least you will have reminded the judge of what he said, will have established that you left the state, and as long as you have zero contact with the protected party (and make sure your friends/family have zero contact with the protected party) it might prevent any bench warrants getting issued.
 

jo8890

Junior Member
Sorry to necro this thread, only doing it because it contains relevant information.

I appreciated all the help I got from people on this issue.

So here's what happened:

As some people suggested, I sent a certified letter to the judge explaining that I had moved to Colorado
and had no contact with the plaintiff of any kind, and that there was no way I could make the hearing.
I also included an amateurishly constructed motion for dismissal.

The date of the hearing came and went and I called to see what the result was, and I was told
that there was another hearing scheduled for two months from that date.

The person I spoke to would not tell me why an additional hearing had been scheduled,
just that one had been.

I wasn't in any better a position to make it to this hearing than I had been for the previous one.

I had already informed the court I had moved to Colorado, had no contact with the plaintiff
and did not have the financial means to make it PA for a hearing.

I didn't know what else to do but write the judge basically the same letter I had already written
her, and I thought that would probably just be irritating at best. So I didn't know what else
to do but wait and see what happened.

So I just found out the results, and a final order has been entered against me.
That's all the information I could get. The clerk I spoke to could not say why.

I'm gobsmacked by this.

I have no legal knowledge or experience whatsoever, but I thought that when a judge sets
a condition in a court room, it's somewhat binding. And I was told, in a public recorded hearing
that the PFA would be dropped if I moved as I said I would and did not contact the defendant.

And that's exactly what I did.

It seems like for the PFA to have become a final order, she would have had to have lied and alleged
that I had contacted her. But I assume if she said I contacted her she'd have to have some kind of evidence,
a witness, something. And as I didn't contact her she couldn't have had any evidence. So I don't understand
what could have happened unless the plaintiff's word is considered evidence enough in these situations.

If this were tv law, there would be something I could do here. I could file some sort of appeal, complaint, have a lawyer
do something fancy, something.

But this isn't tv law, it's real life. So I assume this is all she wrote and I'm powerless to do anything about it.

But am I wrong about that? Is there anything I can do? Any sort of appeal or complaint or anything I can file?

A PFA itself just means that I can't contact her, that part I'm okay with.

The part I'm not okay with is the part where, to my understanding, the fact that I have a PFA will show up
to employers who look and could prevent me from getting work.

I really, really do not need that.

If I can't do anything to change the fact that I have a final order, is there anything I can do about it
showing up to employers? Get it expunged from my record somehow? I know I'm showing my ignorance
in the way I'm talking about this, but clearly, I am ignorant about this stuff.

Thanks a lot for any help an advice you can offer.
 

anearthw

Member
I already spoke to a lawyer about this, and to the PFA clerk at the courthouse, and I was told that there was nothing I could do but try and find a way to make it to the court date, but I wanted to get a second/third opinion.
You should have listened to the actual local lawyer. Now, I will suggest you re-contact them and ask for help. I notice you only took advice that didn't involve an appearance - that's a problem. You ignored the advice, even a local lawyer, that didn't support what you wanted to do. Get in touch with a lawyer.
 

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