The whole process of getting arrested and the arranging for release may be stressful enough but the thought of having a hearing and waiting to be sentenced may sound like something most do not want to deal with so it is easy to see the appeal in simply not showing up. However, skipping is never a good idea and will lead to much harsher consequences than the original issue. Here are just a few ways that not showing up for your court date could make things so much worse.
Not being granted bail a second time
When it is your first offense, a judge is likely to grant bail as an option and in some cases may even grant person recognizance where you don’t even need bail. However, if a defendant does not show up to their scheduled hearing, the judge will take that as the defendant is a flight risk and then chances of being offered bail again go down significantly. In the eyes of the court, the option of bail is considered a privilege and a sign of trust but once it is broken, it will be difficult to get it back.
You can lose a lot of money
It’s no secret that bail costs a lot of money and it’s like that for a reason so that a defendant has more incentive to return to court. Even if you were to go with a bail bondsman and only needed 10% of the actual bail cost, there is a lot of money on the other side of that that will need to be reimbursed in some form. If this happens, it put a lot of people in an awkward position including any co-signers and the bail bondsman themselves.
Indemnitor Will Be Held Responsible
If you had a loved one pay cash bail to bail you out or they co-signed a bail bondsman contract as an Indemnitor, that person will either be out a significant amount of money if cash bond was done since the money will be forfeited and no longer refunded or their collateral may be in jeopardy to pay the remaining bail lost. When someone runs, it definitely puts the loved one in a very difficult place.
Arrested again
Even beyond all the other issues, the main reason why it would be pointless to skip a hearing is that you will simply be arrested again. Once someone does not show up and there was no reason why or any attempt to reschedule, the judge will issue a bench warrant and in some cases, a bounty hunter may be used to find the defendant to bring them back to jail. When this happens, not only will be released again prove to be more difficult but extra charges will be added.
So, in conclusion, we understand that when something like this happens, anyone wants it to be over and done with as soon as possible but showing up to the hearing after being released has to be of the utmost importance because not only will it affect a lot of others when a defendant doesn’t, but it can just make the entire situation so much worse.
