My Money Is On Him Appearing
In the VA jurisdictions that I have been to court in, the court dates on the tickets are usually when the officer is scheduled to be in court. So if an officer writes say 10 speeding tickets on a shift, odds are that every person that got a summons from that particular officer would be scheduled to appear on the same day in court. The same thing would apply to continuances as well, as I have witnessed the judge ask the officer when his next scheduled date to be in court is, and then the clerk schedules the continuance accordingly. I know judges frown on officers not showing up for court, because the judges feel that the officer is wasting everybody's time and also it would mean dismissing all the cases for all the summons' the officer wrote up for the people who actually showed up to contest their tickets that day (no fines to levy). So I would say that the chances of an officer not showing up to court here in VA are slim because more than likely you are not the only case that they are there for. AND if you are gonna play the 'continuing' game, you'd better give the judge a continuance motion worth granting. Hope this helps...