When a court grants you a pretrial release or you are cited for a crime, you must sign a note promising to show up for scheduled court appearances because failure to appear (FTA) is an offense. The law treats the crime of FTA in court pretty seriously. It could lead to criminal charges and harsh penalties, including incarceration and thousands of dollars in monetary court fines.

Nonetheless, you could skip court for valid reasons, which is why an FTA charge does not automatically translate to a conviction. The law allows you to contest the charges and avoid a sentence with the assistance of an attorney. This blog highlights the events that occur when you skip court.

Explanation of Failure to Attend Court

Showing up for scheduled court dates is mandatory for any defendant in California. The need to be present for court hearings arises when you sign the agreement to appear or are subpoenaed. Also, the judge can verbally order you to attend court at a future date during a bail hearing or arraignment. In other cases, the court sends the police to serve you with a notice of appearance.

A promissory note to appear is issued when the judge hearing your cases releases you on personal recognizance without posting bail. You will sign a contract promising to:

  • Be present in court as ordered
  • Abide by all the release conditions imposed by the court
  • Remain within California until the close of the case.

When you are a witness in a criminal proceeding, you receive a subpoena requiring you to show up for a trial or court proceeding. If you are subject to a subpoena, you must appear in court to testify in the hearing at the set court date or bring particular documents necessary to the hearing court.

If the judge grants bail after a charge for a crime, they will give a date when you should appear next for the mention of your case. Your presence in court for the proceeding is non-negotiable, and the law construes absence as jumping bail. The court will trigger the issuance of a bench warrant.

Similarly, a requirement to appear can arise when you commit a traffic violation. A police officer will not arrest you for a traffic infraction. Instead, they issue a citation or pledge where you promise to be present in court on a specific date for a hearing. Not appearing before a judge on this date amounts to contempt of court under PC 166 and triggers criminal charges.

Furthermore, willfully skipping court for a scheduled hearing, whether a felony, misdemeanor, or infraction, violates PEN 1320, 1320.5, and 853.7. Also, you will face a count for failure to appear under Vehicle Code 40508 and 40509.5, VC.

As per PEN 1320.5, skipping court after gaining a pretrial release on bail or after a court order has been issued for your appearance is illegal.

Under PEN 853.7, it is unlawful to knowingly violate a written promise to be present in court for a particular hearing.

Another statute that criminalizes skipping court is VC 40508. Although traffic violations are not covered under Penal Code, they remain crimes. The law makes it illegal to break your promise to appear after issuing a traffic ticket or for not paying the bail amount stated. To gain a conviction, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you are guilty of the alleged traffic violation. You violate this statute when you break the promise to:

  • Show up in court
  • Appear to post bail
  • Post bail in installments
  • Pay a court-imposed fine within the provided timeline
  • Observe court requirements

On the other hand, VC 40509.5 gives the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the power to suspend your driver’s license for not being present in court for a traffic ticket or citation.

What Happens After an FTA?

When you skip court under any of the above circumstances, the court issues a bench warrant, otherwise called FTA warrant, as per PEN 978.5 provisions. The law gives the police and other enforcement agencies the mandate to find, arrest and present to the court a person who misses a scheduled appearance. After being presented before a judge, they can choose to issue a warning, set you free, or put you in custody.

The court will not recall or dismiss your FTA warrant unless you work to have it recalled. One way to quash a bench warrant is to be present in court. If you are not available to attend in person, you can have your criminal lawyer appear for you if you missed a court appearance or skipped a payment in connection with a misdemeanor crime.

Nevertheless, when the baseline offense is a felony and you missed the arranged court appearance, a lawyer cannot appear for you. You must be present with or without a legal representative to quash the FTA warrant. Obtaining a recall is not straightforward as it seems. Showing up alone is not adequate. You need an experienced lawyer to convince the court your reasons for not showing up are valid. Some of the assertions or claims your legal defense team can make are:

  • You did not receive a notice of your needed presence in court
  • You observed all the conditions in the court order
  • You did not know that charges had been filed against you
  • You have been mistaken for another person

With the strong arguments, the court will quash the bench warrant and prevent any charges for FTA from being filed against you.

After you have missed court, call the court to determine if a warrant has been issued. Besides, you can visit the California Supreme Court’s portal and search for an FTA warrant using your name and date of birth. If you find the warrant, open the file and learn all the information, or call the local sheriff’s office. Also, you must have an attorney by your side to help find out about an impending bench or arrest warrant on your behalf.

The Difference Between an Arrest Warrant and Bench Warrant

When you miss your court date, the judge can impose a bench or arrest warrant. The choice depends on the reason for the court appearance.

Your details are stored in a database if a judge issues a bench warrant. When you encounter the police in the future, they could arrest you on the pending bench warrant, regardless of the basis for the encounter.

In contrast, an arrest warrant means that the police are keenly hunting you to apprehend and place you in their custody. The arrest can occur anywhere, anytime.

PEN 1320 and 1320.5 Violation Elements

As mentioned earlier, just because you have been charged for being a no-show in court does not make you guilty. The prosecutor must demonstrate to the court the following facts:

  • You were previously accused or sentenced for an offense in California
  • You were granted a pretrial release
  • You knowingly skipped court at the scheduled date
  • Your actions were motivated by the desire to evade the court process

If a judge grants a personal recognizance release but fails to give you the agreement to sign and you are released without bail, the prosecutor cannot convict you of failure to appear.

To gain a conviction for these charges, the prosecutor must demonstrate that you signed an agreement to appear but intentionally skipped court to avoid the consequences of the process. If there is no evidence to prove you failed to appear to prevent the process or had a good reason for not showing up as an emergency and you lacked enough time to notify the court, you will not be convicted. It is the reason why the court waits for up to 14 days. If you fail to contact them during this duration, they will assume that your actions were deliberate.

Penalties for FTA in a California Court

The consequences for FTA depend on the violated statute. The statutes and their specific penalties include:

PEN 1320

The punishment you will receive for skipping court under this statute hinges on the baseline offense you have been charged or sentenced for. When the charge or conviction is for a misdemeanor offense, you will face misdemeanor penalties for FTA. The sentence includes jail custody for six months and a financial court fine of at most $1,000.

On the other hand, when the charge or sentence for the baseline crime is a felony, you will face felony penalties, including as much as twelve months in jail or prison incarceration for no more than 36 months. Additionally, the court can impose a court fine of up to $5,000.

PEN 1320.5

FTA in a California court, according to PEN 1320.5, is a felony charge. When convicted, you will face at most 36 months in jail, monetary court fines of no more than $10,000, or state prison incarceration for as much as 36 months.

PEN 853.7

FTA is a misdemeanor under PC 853.7. If convicted, the offense is punishable by jail custody not exceeding half a year or a court fine not surpassing $1,000.

VC 40508

You will face misdemeanor penalties when convicted of skipping court after being issued a ticket or citation for a traffic infraction. The penalties are:

  • A maximum of six months of jail incarceration
  • A monetary court fine of at most $1,000

Additionally, the DMV will suspend your driving privileges for at most 30 days.

VC 40509.5

When you violate VC 40508, that is when VC 40590.5 comes in with additional penalties. The statute authorizes the DMV to put your driver’s license on hold for missing a traffic court appearance after you have been cited. The hold on your license can lead to revocation or suspension of driving privileges and remain in effect until you appear in court or pay the stipulated financial court fine.

Legal Defenses for California FTA

An FTA in court attracts severe penalties upon conviction, some mentioned above. Therefore, whenever you are faced with the counts, you should fight them with everything you have. The first step for contesting charges is hiring a profound criminal defense lawyer to walk you through the court process and devise solid defense strategies. Fortunately, there are several valid reasons your lawyer can use to show that missing a court appearance was not deliberate. They include:

1. You Did Not FTA on Purpose

A count for FTA arises when you willingly skip court or fail to recognize a court date. The prosecutor must prove that not appearing for a scheduled hearing was deliberate and that you knew you were meant to show up in court but chose not to. You can use this as a defense to contest the charges by arguing that you did not skip court deliberately. You can assert that you, under good faith, believed the scheduled court appearance was on a different day than what was provided or that you had an emergency that prevented you from attending the hearing. Some of the valid reasons for FTA are:

  • You were admitted to the hospital with an emergency at the scheduled date
  • You were in police custody in a different jurisdiction
  • You had a mental condition

Whatever reason you give for skipping court, you must provide evidence to back your claim. You can produce a medical report as proof of hospital admission or mental condition. With adequate evidence to support your claim, the court will throw out the case and arrange another date for the hearing of the charges whose hearing you skipped.

2. There Was No Notice

When a court issues an order for you to appear, the notice is given to the police for service. The police have the responsibility to serve you with the notice. If you never received the information initially, there is no way of knowing when the court expects you to be present, which is a valid reason for skipping. Proving you were never notified is difficult; this is where an experienced FTA lawyer comes in. They will use circumstantial evidence to show there is no way you could have been served with the notice under the circumstances. The charges will be dropped if the prosecutor can corroborate your lawyer’s story.

3. You Missed Court for a Good Cause

Emergencies come without notice. And when you encounter one the day you should appear in court; the court will excuse you for FTA because you had a good cause. You can claim that you were unwell on the day of the scheduled appearance or a family member had a medical emergency, and you had to rush to the emergency room. Besides, you can argue that you were involved in a car accident while driving to court, rushed to the hospital, or had to record a statement with the police, which consumed your time.

4. You Never Signed an Agreement to Return to Court

When you are arrested for a traffic infraction, the arresting officer issues a promissory note which you sign agreeing to attend a hearing on a particular date. The same happens when you are released on your recognizance. You must sign an agreement to return to court. When the arresting officer forgets to have you sign the promissory note and forwards your name and violation to the District Attorney, your lawyer will argue that you never promised to return to court because there is no signature on the agreement. That way, the court will drop the charges.

5. You did Not Attempt to Dodge the Court Course

When you are a no-show in court, it will appear to the court that you were attempting to evade the process. If you face serious felony charges with heavy penalties, skipping town and not appearing in court can be an excellent idea. An experienced FTA lawyer will persuade the court that you did not purposefully skip the court process. Instead, you grew cold feet or were not adequately prepared for the case. If you are not avoiding the consequences or outcome of the process, you will not face harsh consequences.

Related Offenses

Some of the offenses related to FTA in court are:

Perjury Offense

Per PC 118, perjury occurs when you willfully lie or give a false testament or declaration under oath. The offense is charged as a felony and attracts harsher penalties than FTA. The consequences include formal probation and no more than 48 months in jail or a prison sentence.

Contempt of Court

Another offense related to FTA is contempt of court. PEN 166 defines the offense as being noisy or portraying insolvent behavior while the court is in session, interfering with the process. A conviction for interfering with court processes is a misdemeanor whose sentence is half a year.

Find a Profound Los Angeles Criminal Defense Lawyer Near Me

When charged with the offense of failure to appear, you must seek legal help from experienced lawyers. You need advice from the best lawyers to evaluate the prosecutor’s evidence and develop solid defense theories to avoid a conviction. At the Los Angeles Criminal Lawyer, we strive to attain the best possible outcome in these cases. Contact us today at 310-502-1314 for a zero-obligation case evaluation.