Faraji Allen RosenthallCriminal Defense AttorneyFairfax, VA ·
Being a college student and a first time offender will likely have no bearing on how the court handles you not appearing. There was likely a warrant issued for your arrest.
Check the court case information website to see what happened in your court date. The link to the courts website is here.
Https://eapps.courts.state.va.us/gdcourts/captchaVerification.do?landing=landing
You should also take the situation very seriously. A felony will stay on your record forever and eliminate many career and personal opportunities.
Robert Stuart HahnPersonal Injury LawyerHarrisonburg, VA ·
I would suggest that you consult with an attorney and then make arrangements to turn yourself in. I would suspect that there is a capias outstanding for your arrest. Once you turn yourself in you might be granted a bond or your attorney might have to schedule a bond hearing if the Magistrate determines that he/she is going to leave the bond issue up to the court. Despite this being your first offense the court take your failure to appear very seriously. Good luck.
You need to file a motion to withdraw the bench warrant if it is not too late and set a trial date for your case. If the warrant has been issued then you need to have the warrant execeuted by turning yourself in to the police( always on a Sunday through thursday, never over the weekend).
An attorney can help you in both situations. Contact one asap.
Arrest.
Perhaps loss of student loan options.
A lifetime conviction that will screw your employment options.
Get with a criminal defense attorney ASAP.
Most likely, a warrant for your arrest has been issued and you will need to turn yourself in. Having dealt with many of these types of cases, I can tell you that hiring a lawyer first, who can then deal with the process of you turning yourself in, will make the process much easier. If you have a reasonable excuse, the Court may ultimately dismiss the failure to appear warrant, but most likely not until the preliminary hearing.
