The Bill of Rights outlines a system where the default option is for the government to stay out of your business. Once the criminal justice system has made contact with you, though, the rules change. It is true that you cannot receive a criminal sentence unless and until you are convicted of a crime. Despite this, if you have criminal charges pending against you, the court has more authority to tell you what to do. If you miss a court appearance that you have been ordered to attend, this can lead to a separate criminal charge. In other words, failure to appear in criminal court when ordered to do so is a crime in itself. If you have a pending criminal case and want to avoid making things worse by unintentionally disobeying the court’s rules, contact a Texas criminal defense lawyer.
Criminal Penalties for Failure to Appear
If you have received an order to appear in criminal court for a mandatory court date, including but not limited to hearings and trials, you can receive criminal charges for failure to appear, pursuant to Texas Penal Code Section 38.10. The same rules apply regarding the requirement to appear in court, regardless of whether you paid bail money after your arrest. The grading and penalty for the failure to appear charged varies according to the severity of the underlying offense. If the original charge was for a felony, and you fail to appear for a court date connected to it, the resulting failure to appear charge will be a class C felony, and it will carry a maximum fine of $10,000 and a prison sentence of up to ten years. While your case is pending, the court can also revoke your bail bond and suspend your driver’s license; this causes substantial financial hardship even if your failure to appear charge does not result in a conviction.
Legally Valid Reasons for Missing a Court Appearance
Not everyone who does not attend a court appearance on the date originally scheduled gets criminal charges for failure to appear. If you know you cannot make it to your court date, notify the court immediately. These are some valid reasons for rescheduling a court date:
● Your own hospitalization or the hospitalization of an immediate family member
● The death of an immediate family member
● Natural disasters or severe weather emergencies
● Too short notice of the original court date
● Another pre-existing court date that conflicts with the new one
● Incarceration in another jurisdiction
Your lawyer can help you communicate with the court and reschedule your court date if you know you will not be able to make it to your court appearance. A criminal defense lawyer can also help you fight your failure to appear charge, as well as the underlying criminal charge.
Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC About Criminal Defense Cases
A Dallas criminal defense lawyer can help you if you are facing criminal charges for failure to appear in court. Contact the Law Office of Patrick J. McLain, PLLC, in Dallas, Texas, to discuss your case.