The person was 15 minutes late and the judge had already passed his name. he was told that he needed to talk to his lawyer, his lawyer said he had left and now he doesnt know what to do. he wants to get this fixed but supposedly he has an order of arrest & he wants to prevent that from happening. what can he do?
If he had a lawyer, then he needs to contact his lawyer and have the lawyer straighten things out with the court. 15 minutes is not the stuff of arrest.
If he was not there when the judge called the docket (list of names) then the judge issued a bench warrant. Your friend needs to contact his lawyer to get advice on the options for clearing the warrant without being arrested. This may require the posting of bail to lift the warrant, which will also get the matter relisted for a new Court date. Good luck.
DISCLAIMER I do not practice law in your State. This answer is provided solely for informational purposes only. This answer does not constitute legal advice, create an attorney-client relationship, or constitute attorney advertising.
Believe it or not, this happens in courts every day everywhere. If a person believes they will be late for court and they do not have an attorney, they should call the judge's assistant or the clerk's office. This message will usually get passed along to the judge and if court proceedings are still ongoing when you arrive, chances are you won't get a warrant. But don't think the judge won't admonish you. Remember everyone else in the courtroom including the judge, clerks, attorneys and others in your situation got themselves up and were on time. Don't think that a judge won't or can't have you arrested. Some will and have. Above all else, don;t just not show up if you think you will be late.
Begging forgiveness is always better than getting a failure to appear because those can last a lifetime.
As for your attorney if you had one, there are always attorneys who may have circuit court while county court is going on and have to pop in and out of the court room. It is my opinion that a judge would rather fuss at your attorney than fuss at you. So, go through your attorney and have him or her file a motion to withdraw the capias. Your attorney will know how to do it and what information to include. Good luck!
Counsel above explained the process in excellent terms, but there is also another way to determine if you can bond out on the charge. Call a bailbondsman and they will look it up for you. I do not know why someone told you your lawyer had already left unless you hired private counsel who could have been in another courtroom. I'm sorry the bailiff didn't explain this to you. If you had a Public Defender, they would always be in the courtroom, so call your attorney and request that the warrant on the Failure To Appear be lifted. I am also wondering why you didn't just go to your car and call the attorney's office and ask for instructions, or you could have stayed in the courtroom and waited until the end..they would have rescheduled when your attorney could be present. If you want to avoid jail you need to be more proactive to protect your freedom. And by the way many of us are the first attorney's in the court house, often arriving 45 minutes before court begins so we can be the first ones called so YOU CAN GET BACK TO WORK. Now you know why the attorney was already gone as they had already waited for you for over an hour.
