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Posted on July 7, 2020 in Defense Strategies
If a person becomes aware of an outstanding warrant for their arrest for a missed court date or any other reasons, it is important to take action immediately. If you turn up to Court with an outstanding warrant, you can immediately be arrested and taken into custody. The judge has the discretion to take a person into custody if they have a warrant when they come into court. That is why when someone calls our firm in this situation, the course of action that we prefer to do at AZ Defenders is to file a Motion to Quash the Warrant.
In that motion, we would list all of the reasons that you did not show up to court such as: you never got notice of the court date; you mistakenly thought the matter was resolved; you were immature, but are now taking the matter seriously and hired counsel to deal with this issue, etc.. Ideally, we want the judge to quash that warrant before we ever step into the courtroom.
If you do not show up to court for your scheduled court date on a criminal charge, the court will issue a warrant for your arrest. If you have a private attorney, some courts will allow the attorney to go on your behalf. If it is a court that will not allow your attorney to go on your behalf, have your attorney file a motion to waive your appearance or continue the court date.
The worst thing you can do is to knowingly ignore the warrant and then to get picked up by the police. By ignoring a warrant and hoping this situation will disappear will not happen and will just make your case worse. If you have knowingly ignored this warrant and the police have taken you into custody at your home, place of work or even at a routine traffic stop, this may result in you facing harsher penalties. The judge will not look upon you favorably when determining the conditions of release. The judge will view you as a flight risk if you were arrested on a warrant as opposed to filing a Motion to Quash the Warrant. If you know you missed a court appearance or discover a court has issued a warrant against you, do not wait and wonder what will happen or when you will be taken into custody. A Phoenix criminal defense attorney will can help ease your concerns and can effectively help you avoid jail.
Our attorneys are experienced and well versed on how to avoid you been arrested if you show up to Court with a warrant. We offer free consultations by phone, video and in person office appointments. Don’t face this frightening situation alone, our attorneys know how to handle an arrest warrant, and can assist and advise you in how to proceed. AZ Defenders can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Contact us online or by calling 480-456-6400.