You may be annoyed or frustrated with your arrest or traffic citation, but that doesn’t mean you should take a stand by skipping out on your court appearance. Not only will your message fail to be conveyed, but it will typically leave you in a much worse position. But what happens if you miss your court date in Minnesota? In today’s blog, we take a closer look at some of the potential penalties for missing your court date in Minnesota.
Missing Criminal Court
For the sake of this blog, we’re going to focus on what happens if you miss your criminal court appearance for a misdemeanor or above. For something like a traffic citation, failure to appear may simply be taken as a guilty plea, but unless your presence was required, you won’t be any worse because you failed to show up for an optional appearance. Instead, we’re going to focus on mandatory appearances for misdemeanor, gross misdemeanor or felony offenses.
If you miss a required court appearance, you can face a number of different penalties as determined by the judge. The judge can issue a bench warrant, which means that you can be arrested if police come into contact with you, or you can have your bail revoked, which leads to the forfeiture of any bond and you’ll be jailed until the conclusion of your trial. There’s also the possibility that your driver’s license could be suspended if you are contesting a case like a DWI. If you skip sentencing, there’s a decent chance that you’ll face a harsher sentence from the judge for wasting everyone’s time.
There’s no way to know exactly what will happen if you skip your court appearance, but know that nothing good will come out of it. Do everything in your power to avoid missing court.
Excuses To Miss Court
If you miss court, you better be sure that you have an ironclad excuse ready for the judge. Simply saying that you couldn’t find childcare for your kids or that nobody could cover your work shift will not cut it. Typically, only sicknesses and emergency situations like a car accident will be considered valid, and it’s not enough to just have the sniffles on your court date. In today’s world, it will likely take a major sickness or a positive COVID-19 test to lead to an excused absence, and even then you’ll want to be as forward as possible and avoid cancelling at the last minute. You may be able to join court remotely, so again, don’t just assume that being sick will get you out of your obligations.
If you really don’t want to go to court, your best bet is to connect with a criminal defense lawyer like Avery Appelman. Oftentimes a lawyer can appear on your behalf for some of your appearances, which allows you to take care of your family or keep working your job instead of going to court. You will be required to come to court with your lawyer for certain appearances, but you may not need to come to all of them if you hire professional representation, so keep that in mind.
Never skip a mandatory criminal court appearance if at all possible, and try to make arraignments as soon as possible if there is a major conflict, but try to be flexible. Legally skipping court is rare, unless you have a lawyer by your side. Not only can they appear on your behalf, but they can also give you a much greater chance at winning your case. To connect with a firm that can help you fight back against the charges, reach out to Avery and the team at Appelman Law Firm today at (952) 224-2277.
