Erlanger Failure to Appear Lawyer

A court may designate a date, time, and place for a hearing or other mandated meaning. A defendant who does not appear can be charged with failure to appear (FTA). FTA is a stand-alone charge, which does not depend on whether the defendant is convicted of the underlying charges. In other words, even if you end up with an eventual not-guilty verdict after an FTA, you still have to deal with the consequences of the FTA.

The first thing that happens when someone fails to appear is that the judge attempts to get you back in court. If your defense attorney is present, they may give the attorney the opportunity to bring you before the court. If not, they will usually issue a bench warrant. They may also demand other consequences, which can impact your pretrial freedom and your ability to participate in your defense. If you have missed a court date, contact an Erlanger failure to appear lawyer at Busald Funk Zevely to help you remedy the situation.

Mandatory Court Appearances

When a defendant is charged with a crime, even a minor crime like a traffic offense, they get an order to appear in court—also known as a summons. The summons provides the time, date, and place for a court appearance. In some instances, a defendant may be able to resolve the issue prior to the court date. However, if the issue is unresolved, the defendant needs to appear at the designated time and place.

Defendants facing criminal proceedings in Erlanger may need to appear in court several times. Those events include arraignment, pretrial conferences, hearings, the trial, and sentencing. Failing to appear on any of those dates can result in FTA charges and a bench warrant.

Not every defendant is released from jail while awaiting trial. If they are, they may have a bail agreement. Kentucky’s approach to bail differs from most states’ approaches. In other states, private bail bond agencies can do for-profit bail agreements. In Kentucky, the Commonwealth handles all bail bond arrangements through a Pretrial Services Agency.

The court can choose to remand defendants to custody, release them on their own recognizance, or set bail high enough to encourage people to appear at all court appearances. If a defendant cannot afford cash bail, the court can allow the defendant to pay ten percent of the bond instead. This percentage is refundable if a person appears as promised but is subject to forfeiture if they do not. Additionally, the bond may be secured by property, which can also be forfeited for FTA.

In a for-profit bond state, when a defendant is an FTA, a private bail bond agent might send someone to collect the person and take them to court. These bounty hunters hunt down the FTAs. Since Kentucky does not have a for-profit bond system, it does not have bounty hunters tracking down fugitives. However, they also do not have bond agents who may be happy to rebond a defendant who has failed to appear in exchange for the related fees.

Excuses and Potential Penalties for Failing to Appear

Sometimes, the court will accept a defendant’s excuses for failing to appear. For example, a defendant who is hospitalized may be excused without punishment. However, most other emergencies will not be accepted as an excuse. Unless the emergency prevents a defendant from appearing and from contacting the court beforehand, then it is unlikely that the court will accept the excuse.

The primary risk for a defendant who fails to appear is that the court will revoke their bond and remand them to custody. In those instances, the defendant will no longer be free while awaiting trial. This not only impacts a person’s freedom but can also make it more challenging to coordinate with their defense attorneys.

The court may also elect to place a defendant in contempt of court, which can result in jail time or other punishments. It can enter a bench warrant for a defendant’s arrest or simply elect to mark a defendant as FTA, which can result in a defendant being unable to carry out regular county business. An Erlanger FTA lawyer can stand up for a defendant and help them avoid such harsh consequences.

Contact an Erlanger Failure to Appear Attorney for Help

Failing to appear in court does not improve a defendant’s situation. The court is not going to dismiss charges because a defendant does not appear. Plus, the judge will be less likely to treat you favorably if you disrespect the court by failing to appear. Instead of trying to deal with an FTA on your own, contact an Erlanger failure to appear lawyer at Busald Funk Zevely.