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I wasn't able to complete my community service
Anonymous3 views3 answers
I was an idiot & thought it would be fine to take clothes from a store (don't want to say where) & was caught. I was very polite, very willing through the whole process & was told to complete 24 hrs of community service & a theft class. I'm a college student working every hour I'm not in school, sleeping, or doing homework. I had no money for the class & I tried VERY hard to find a non profit to volunteer at that would work with my schedule but didn't end up making the deadline & got an extension. Now I'm about to go to my next court appointment w/o the requirements again. I dropped out of college this semester just so I could have time off but couldn't afford rent & had to up my hours at work so I was in the same exact boat. Am I looking at jail time? Im scared.. 1st offense, under $100
Alexander M. IvakhnenkoCriminal Defense AttorneyChicago, IL ·
Everyone makes a mistake. Do not be too hard on yourself for making one. You need a counsel to represent you in court on the non-compliance issue to complete your community service. You may retain an attorney or, if you are indigent, you may qualify for a court-appointed public defender in that instance.
Explain the issues calmly, remain cooperative and hopefully the matter will be rectified successfully with other legal options than jail.
What the judge wants to hear is not all the reasons why you failed to comply with the requirements of your sentence, but an explanation of how, if you are given a bit more time, this time you will actually be able to do what is required. If the judge thinks you are capable of completing the class and community service then he or she is very likely to give you another extension. If they believe that you'll never get it done, then you are likely looking at a jail sentence as the only reasonable solution.
Mr. Harkess is definitely right on point. What the judge wants to hear is how quickly you can get what you did NOT do done and not hear any excuses. He or she hears excuses all of the time. They want to hear you taking responsibility and accountability for not getting everything done, apologizing for not getting it done, and giving the judge a time frame for when it is done. Take the responsibility for screwing up and get it resolved.
