Failure to Appear for a Probation Revocation Hearing

[WilburrTodde89]

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.

[DeputyDog]

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.

[WilburrTodde89]

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?

[DeputyDog]

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.

[WilburrTodde89]

I do appreciate the advice. Thank you.

[eerelations]

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?

[WilburrTodde89]

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.

[DeputyDog]

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.

[CenTex71]

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!

[geek]

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.