Failure to Appear in Court, Multiple Offenses
My question involves criminal law for the state of: New York
Please bear with me as this is a two part inquiry. First, I received a summons a few years ago for possession of marijuana that I never appeared in court for. Approximately a year later, I received another summons for trespassing(being in a park after hours). However, in this scenario, they had ran my social security number, or it appeared as if they had, and let me off with just that summons. I also noticed that on the summons for the trespassing charge, there is a number on the top left hand corner and none on the summons for the possession charge. I am wondering now if that ticket is simply an old version that didn't contain numbers to begin with, or its due to a printer error. If so, does this mean that this charge was never recorded? What is the best course of action to find out if this charge was processed without exposing myself? Both of these incidents occurred in Queens, New York.
Secondly, I've also failed to respond to the second ticket(trespassing) and was advised to seek legal representation. What is the typical range for attorney's fee and the penalty for the combination of these two charges? I had spoken to only one lawyer so far, and he had told me his price was $1,500-$2,500 which seems to me to be a bit much. Is there a place where I can find a pro bono lawyer?
Re: Failure to Appear in Court, No on the Summons
The 1st charge was probably 100 dollar fine maybe less,or they might of just dismissed it if you stayed out of trouble for a year.The second one 25-50 buxs. You can always turn yourself in at the court house or to a police station,they will process you and schedule a court date. A lawyer can scedule a court date and then get it taken care of a lot quicker. . It sounds like a pain just take care of it.There both minor offenses.The lawyer can help avoid having you arrested . It better if you surrender on your own free wil. I never showed up,it was my mistake and I am here to take care of it.
I got a ticket for being in the park after it closed and some one with me had a bench warrant and was arrested.They had to pay bail and when to court the next day,this all happened around 2am.He spend the day in court for one case and I think they schedule a new court day for the old summons he never took care of. I also got an open conatiner ticket and was with the same guy.They just checked our ids but didn't bother to run a warrant search(I am just guessing that).The guy told me afterwards he had a warrant. I noticed a place at the court house that said warrants. You also might be able to speak to the court clerk about the status. You could try calling a legal aid office or maybe there a backround service where you an check for warrant.The backround service is not 100 percent. Like I said these a minor offense,just take care of them,the court gonna upset you showed up.Especialy in place like nyc there gonna worry much about 2 little summons like that.Call different lawyer,maybe you can find something cheaper.
http://www.queensdefense.com/warrants.htm
1500-2000 might be about right,Someone mention somewhere there was a lawyer who charged 500 dollars for a summons.You have 2 them plus,the warrents. That is 2-3 court appearance plus them avoid you to be put handcuffs,and process quickly thru the courts.They might be able to get your tickets called 1st or arrange a deal where you pay a fine.Instead of being in court all plus possibility been locked up while they process you. The lawyer might even even be able to get you an acd for one charge and get the other one dismissed if your lucky.If you stay out of trouble for 6-12 months your not guilty of anything.
When I got the ticket for being in the park after it closed.The cop told me,it's only a violation,the main inconvience is wasting a day in court.If you don't should up a warrent is gonna be issued and then problems will arise.