Ignoring a problem doesn’t mean it will go away. In fact, most times it makes the situation worse. If you are arrested and charged with a crime, don’t just ignore your summons and hope the court forgets about you, because they won’t. Ignoring your mandatory appearance can actually lead to a “Failure to Appear” charge, which is another headache you’ll have to deal with. Today, we take a closer look at failure to appear laws in Minnesota, and the penalties for committing the crime.
Failure To Appear
If your presence is required by the court and you decide not to show up, you can be charged with failure to appear. The court is not going to care what your excuse was, so you’re not going to get the charges dropped by telling the judge that you couldn’t find a babysitter or you had to work that day. Court dates are set weeks in advance, and you have the ability to ask for a new date, so there’s no excuse for missing a mandatory appearance.
If you fail to appear for a mandatory court appearance, it will catch up with you. Maybe not that week. Maybe not that year. But at some point, it will catch up to you. That’s because when you are charged with Failure to Appear, your driver’s license gets flagged and you are considered a fugitive offender. Police may show up at your door, or they may notice it the next time you get stopped for speeding, but your Failure to Appear charge will hang with you until it’s addressed. That’s because you are considered an active fugitive in the eyes of the law, and there is no statue of limitations for active fugitives.
Penalties For Failing To Appear
The penalties you’ll face for failing to appear will depend on the original charge you were required to appear for. Here’s how the state penalizes Failure to Appeal crimes:
- If you fail to appear for a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor charge, you will be charged with misdemeanor failure to appear, which carries a potential sentence of 90 days in jail and up to $1,000 in fines.
- If you fail to appear for a felony charge, you can be sentenced to one-half the maximum sentence and one-half the maximum fine for the original offense. This means that if you failed to appear for a felony charge that carried a 10-year maximum sentence and up to a $20,000 fine, you can face a 5-year sentence and up to a $10,000 fine for failing to appear.
- Minnesota also has what’s known as a mandatory minimum sentence for failing to appear for a felony charge. This means a judge can sentence you to no less than one year and one day in jail and a $1,500 fine for failing to appear for a felony-level crime.
It’s also worth noting that a Failure to Appear charge has repercussions for any bail money you might have posted. If you were charged with a DUI and posted bail, but then you failed to appear for a mandatory appearance, you will forfeit that bail money to the court, even if you are found innocent of driving under the influence.
So if you’re confused where to turn after an arrest, look no further than Appelman Law Firm. As we shared in a recent blog, we can often appear on your behalf so you don’t have to miss school or work. Don’t ignore a criminal charge and hope it goes away on its own, because it will snowball into a bigger problem. Call Avery Appelman today.
