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Failure to Appear for a Probation Revocation Hearing

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  • 03-17-2015, 09:17 AM
    WilburrTodde89
    Failure to Appear for a Probation Revocation Hearing
    My question involves criminal law for the state of: Ohio

    In 2008, at the tender age of 18, i caught a Domestic Violence charge and was arrested. After doing 2 days (Hard Time), i paid my bond and was released. Upon returning to court, i pled guilty to an amended Disorderly Conduct and was sentenced to 30 days in Jail, 2 of which I already had done, and 28 of which was strung above me. I also recieved 2 years probation.

    After a rather quick 3 months, i screwed up and my P.O. scheduled a Revocation Hearing. Unfortunately, I wasnt able to make it. Now, its 2015 and I still live in the same house, except its my house now, and Ive since gotten married and have a beautiful 2 year old Son.

    I made a pretty big mistake here. I cant get a drivers license, and this kind of thing will show up in a background check for a job when I graduate College. My question is, how should i go about fixing this? I DO NOT want to go back to jail for any reason whatsoever. I havent been in any trouble since, and it should also be noted that the person the Domestic Violence is against is long dead, (Drug Addict) and I have Hemophilia A Severe and my Meds cost about 8-12 thousand a week. (Yeowch)

    Recently, Ive been considering Obtaining a Lawyer and trying to get it dismissed or something? I dont know exactly what course to take and what I should expect. Any Takers wanna give me a little smidgen of advice? Please and Thanks.
  • 03-17-2015, 09:36 AM
    DeputyDog
    Re: A Special Case
    Ohio LE here.

    You didn't do 2 days of hard time; go to North Korea to see what hard time is. You sat in a cell and got food brought to you and watched TV. Oh, and 18 is not a "tender age." Men go to war and die for their country at 18. You were an adult and you fully knew that what you did was wrong.

    You say of your revocation hearing, "I wasn't able to make it." That doesn't hold water. You didn't show up. You skipped out. Courts give continuances, and you chose to just not show up. You now have a warrant.

    Yes, you made "a pretty big mistake here." The fact that you "DO NOT want to go back to jail for any reason whatsoever" is irrelevant. There is a warrant for your arrest and in order for it to be cleared, you will likely need to be arrested and booked, or at least post bond. You are also looking at contempt of court charges.

    The fact that the victim is dead is irrelevant because the case is already disposed of. What needs to be addressed by the court is your probation violation. The victim has no bearing on that.

    Call the court, find out how much your bond is, and then show up to pay it. You might be arrested or you may not be - oftentimes, if you show up and post the required bond there is no need to take you into custody. Either way, you will make your bond and be released; a new court date will be given to you. SHOW UP FOR THAT hearing.

    Get an attorney, but there is nothing to be "dismissed." The original case is already disposed of; what your attorney needs to do is convince the judge that the probation violation is basically irrelevant today and that you should not be held in contempt (and good luck with that.)

    It's going to cost you. Now here's the part I'm not sure of - but I do not believe that you are entitled to have an attorney appointed to you if you cannot afford one for a probation violation. I could be wrong on that - but I believe that protection only applies to original charges. So you're likely to be paying this out of pocket.
  • 03-17-2015, 10:23 AM
    WilburrTodde89
    Re: A Special Case
    Sheeesh, someone didnt have their coffee this morning. You never covered the Hemophilia thing btw. Is Ohio really willing to pay the 40,000+ dollars to incarcerate me over a meaningless charge that occured 7 years ago?
  • 03-17-2015, 10:34 AM
    DeputyDog
    Re: A Special Case
    I gave you the truth. Sorry if it's not to your liking.

    The charge isn't meaningless; it's a serious offense of violence. As for whether it's worth it to incarcerate you for it, that's for a judge to decide.

    I do not see a long jail sentence in your future, but as you noted, you would like to take care of this so that you can finally get a license, etc. Putting this behind you will require taking the steps that I outlined in my first post: posting a bond, getting a new court date, and going before the judge to dispose of the probation violation issue.

    If you pi$$ off the judge, there's a lot of other things he/she can do to you other than put you in jail, by the way.
  • 03-17-2015, 10:38 AM
    WilburrTodde89
    Re: A Special Case
    I do appreciate the advice. Thank you.
  • 03-17-2015, 10:45 AM
    eerelations
    Re: A Special Case
    How do you afford $8K to $10K per week? That's around half a million dollars a year. What do you do that earns you that much + whatever you need to support yourself and your family? And where do you get the $40K figure? Why wouldn't the jail make you pay for your own meds given that you're paying for them now?
  • 03-17-2015, 11:04 AM
    WilburrTodde89
    Re: A Special Case
    Factor VIII Advate, about 1$ a unit and i need 4000 units, 3x a week. I have health Insurance, but i could easily drop it and pick it back up after i got out. I know its kind of ****ed up, but Im sure that would be a major incentive to not lock me up. Besides, if they refused it to me, Id have a means to sue the city and that seems to be pretty lucrative these days. Im not looking for a handout, i just want my life back.
  • 03-17-2015, 11:11 AM
    DeputyDog
    Re: A Special Case
    You're overthinking this.

    Get a lawyer, or don't, and then go to court, post the bond, and go in front of the judge. This isn't aggravated murder, it's a probation violation. Just get this behind you.
  • 03-17-2015, 11:17 AM
    CenTex71
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    Quoting WilburrTodde89
    View Post
    Factor VIII Advate, about 1$ a unit and i need 4000 units, 3x a week. I have health Insurance, but i could easily drop it and pick it back up after i got out. I know its kind of ****ed up, but Im sure that would be a major incentive to not lock me up. Besides, if they refused it to me, Id have a means to sue the city and that seems to be pretty lucrative these days. Im not looking for a handout, i just want my life back.


    "Just want your life back". Then handle your business - you act as if this has all been put on you by somebody other than yourself. And I'm still laughing about your two days of "hard time". You should write a book!
  • 03-17-2015, 11:41 AM
    geek
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    Quoting WilburrTodde89
    View Post
    Factor VIII Advate, about 1$ a unit and i need 4000 units, 3x a week. I have health Insurance, but i could easily drop it and pick it back up after i got out. I know its kind of ****ed up, but Im sure that would be a major incentive to not lock me up. Besides, if they refused it to me, Id have a means to sue the city and that seems to be pretty lucrative these days. Im not looking for a handout, i just want my life back.

    You're quite the special snowflake aren't you. They jail people with serious illnesses, worse than yours even, all the time. It's actually pretty rare that illness is a deterrent to incarceration.
  • 03-17-2015, 11:50 AM
    tonynewman
    Re: A Special Case
    come on, any jail time is hard time guys,,, in fact, I would say being in a county lock up would be harder compared to a prison, he probably only got a mat to sleep on in some open area with 20 other people, at least in a prison you get your own bed and toilet. but im no expert on jail or prisons lol
  • 03-17-2015, 11:50 AM
    eerelations
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    Quoting WilburrTodde89
    View Post
    Factor VIII Advate, about 1$ a unit and i need 4000 units, 3x a week. I have health Insurance, but i could easily drop it and pick it back up after i got out. I know its kind of ****ed up, but Im sure that would be a major incentive to not lock me up. Besides, if they refused it to me, Id have a means to sue the city and that seems to be pretty lucrative these days. Im not looking for a handout, i just want my life back.

    The judge can very easily order you to pay for it yourself, given that you have insurance. (In fact if you present this smartass "better not put me in jail 'cause it's gonna cost you big time in meds!" scenario to the judge, he/she very likely will order you to pay for it yourself - judges generally react pretty negatively to childish pissant threats like this.) And then if you are sentenced to jail and drop your insurance, that's on you, you won't have cause to sue. (And anyway do you have any idea how much it would cost to sue the city? A helluva lot more than the meds you didn't take while in jail.)

    Yeah, you're looking for a handout. You're just pissed off because we're saying you won't get one.
  • 03-17-2015, 12:43 PM
    harrylime
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    i caught a Domestic Violence charge...
    I've always enjoyed this phrasing - the passive tone.

    'Hey, he hit a line drive right at me. What else could I do but catch it?"
  • 03-17-2015, 04:57 PM
    WilburrTodde89
    Re: A Special Case
    Thanks to everyone who enjoyed my post. I do appreciate it. :) Has anyone ever seen a similar situation unfold? Do you merry band of Law Enforcement Gurus think I'll get be made to do the 28 days or perhaps reinstate my probation? Or do you think they'll chain me up and flog me publicly? Anyone?
  • 03-18-2015, 07:37 AM
    eerelations
    Re: A Special Case
    Most likely you'll have to spend 28 days in jail, that's SOP for people who breach probation.
  • 03-18-2015, 08:07 AM
    Mr. Knowitall
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    Quoting WilburrTodde89
    View Post
    Factor VIII Advate, about 1$ a unit and i need 4000 units, 3x a week. I have health Insurance, but i could easily drop it and pick it back up after i got out. I know its kind of ****ed up, but Im sure that would be a major incentive to not lock me up. Besides, if they refused it to me, Id have a means to sue the city and that seems to be pretty lucrative these days. Im not looking for a handout, i just want my life back.

    The judge doesn't pay your medical bills, and isn't going to be influenced by your suggestion that the county would have to bear the cost -- such a suggestion is the opposite of contrition, and it might inspire him to go harder on you. Further, in jail you would ensure that you get, at best, Medicaid-level care for your condition. People with serious medical conditions have died in jail. You don't want to place yourself in that type of risk -- you should be working out with your lawyer how you can ensure continuity of care and prompt access to your medications in case you are incarcerated, not attempting the opposite.
    Quote:

    Quoting WilburrTodde89
    View Post
    Has anyone ever seen a similar situation unfold?

    Your disposition will depend on many factors, and could range from being resentenced to a greater period of incarceration to being ordered to complete your original sentence (whether through the suspended jail time, continued probation, or some combination of jail and probation) or even being discharged as a violator without additional incarceration. It's important to work with your lawyer, in light of the policies of the court and prosecutor as well as the likely position of the probation department, to try to position you for the most favorable outcome.
  • 03-18-2015, 11:55 AM
    WilburrTodde89
    Re: A Special Case
    Thank you for the advice Mr. Know-it-all! The first person with a modicum of civility.
  • 03-18-2015, 02:28 PM
    eerelations
    Re: A Special Case
    Quote:

    Quoting harrylime
    View Post
    I've always enjoyed this phrasing - the passive tone.

    'Hey, he hit a line drive right at me. What else could I do but catch it?"

    When my husband misplaces something, he always says "It went missing." :rolleyes:
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