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Bail allows you to remain free while awaiting trial, reducing the disruption to your life. It reduces the disruption an arrest causes, especially if you are a family member, employee, student, or businessperson. However, California bail is given on the condition that you will appear in all hearings regarding your case. The consequences of skipping bail are dire and include a re-arrest, additional criminal charges for failure to appear, and a damaging criminal record that could affect your eligibility for bail.
Knowing what happens when you skip bail before obtaining your pretrial release is essential. It prepares you for what to expect and how to handle an issue that could cause you not to appear. You can talk to a criminal attorney to understand the essence of bail and the consequences of failure to appear in court. A reliable bail bondsman can discuss all this with you before assisting you to post bail.
The Definition of Failure to Appear
An arrest in California will likely result in jail time until a judge issues an order for your release pending a court trial. However, this order is usually accompanied by a requirement to post bail. If you are eligible for bail, the judge sets the amount according to the available bail schedule, case details, and the strength of your community ties. You must post bail before your freedom is granted. You can do this in cash or through bail bonds. Once the court receives your bail, you can resume your daily schedule and plan your defense. You could also be released on your recognizance if you meet the qualifying criteria, which include being a first offender facing non-violent charges.
Bail is a legal guarantee that you will return for court proceedings. It is an assurance that you will appear in court for all hearings regarding your case. If you fail to appear, you will likely lose the full amount and face other consequences, like a rearrest. Making all court appearances is essential for the continuity of your case. Since California courts handle so many criminal cases yearly, they can experience a backlog if they fail to appear when their cases are scheduled. Thus, courts issue bail to ensure that defendants appear as required so that their cases can be heard and determined within reasonable times.
Failure to appear in court is a significant problem in the California justice system. It occurs when a defendant fails to show up for a scheduled hearing. When a judge grants a defendant bail, they set a hearing date for the defendant to appear in court. Failure to appear occurs when you miss a scheduled court date without a valid excuse. This means that your case will not progress as expected, which can result in a backlog, especially if other defendants fail to appear. It also means that your case will take longer to solve than scheduled.
Courts treat failure to appear as a serious legal violation with significant consequences. California law makes it a misdemeanor or felony offense (depending on the underlying charge), with severe bail jumping penalties, for a defendant to knowingly fail to appear in court for a scheduled hearing. Therefore, you can be arrested and charged for it. The consequences of skipping bail are severe and could include a jail sentence, misdemeanor probation, and a hefty court fine. A conviction for failure to appear can also damage your reputation, affecting your eligibility for bail. You should be aware of these life-changing consequences so you know what to expect when a court grants you bail.
The Consequences of Skipping Bail
Posting bail does not mean that your criminal case is over. Your case must continue until a court issues the final verdict in your case. Generally, an arrest will lead to a criminal trial when the court hears evidence and statements from the prosecution and defense to give the final verdict. Until that happens, your case will still be pending. Judges grant bail on the condition that defendants will appear for all scheduled hearings for the continuity and conclusion of their cases. When you fail to appear, you make this difficult. This subjects you to severe bail jumping penalties. They include the following:
A Bench Warrant for Your Arrest
A bench warrant is a type of arrest warrant judges issue when people fail to comply with a valid court order. It can be issued when you fail to appear for a court hearing. It is called a bench warrant because it is issued by a judge who sits on the bench. Once a judge issues a bench warrant, the police can arrest you anytime. The warrant remains active until you are arrested and charged with failure to appear. The consequences of a bench warrant are that it can result in an arrest, detention, another court appearance to address the underlying charge, and a new violation of a court order.
Additional Criminal Charges
Failure to appear is a criminal offense under California law. According to PC 1320, you will face misdemeanor charges if you willfully fail to appear in a scheduled court hearing after a court releases you on your recognizance pending a criminal trial. Failure to appear within 14 days may be presumed willful unless you provide a valid explanation. The same statute makes it a felony offense for a defendant who willfully fails to appear after being granted bail following an arrest for a felony offense.
The additional charges will be added to the underlying charges and could result in heftier penalties upon conviction. A misdemeanor conviction for failure to appear is punishable by six months in jail and $1000 in court fines. A felony conviction for failure to appear will likely result in up to three years in prison and $10,000 in court fines. Remember that these penalties will be added to the penalties you will likely receive for the underlying crime. Penalties for failure to appear are imposed regardless of the outcome of the original charge, provided the FTA is proven.
Bail Forfeiture
Remember that bail is usually an incentive for your court appearances. It serves to ensure your attendance at all scheduled court appearances regarding your case. Courts accept bail in exchange for a defendant’s detention because they will forfeit the bail if the defendants fail to appear. Thus, bail forfeiture is one of the possible consequences of skipping bail.
Bail forfeiture occurs when a court keeps the money you used to incentivize court appearances. You lose all the money, translating to a significant financial loss for you or your family. If you used a bail bond to obtain a pretrial release, the bail bondsman who posted bail on your behalf suffers a significant financial loss. Consequently, they will try to recover their losses from you or your family.
Generally, bail bondsmen in California anticipate that this can happen. They ask for collateral for the bail bonds service before posting bail in court on your behalf. They ask for anything valuable they can hold before a court hears and determines your case. You risk losing that collateral when the court forfeits your bail for failure to appear. This means a significant loss of a vehicle, real estate property, a valuable art collection, expensive jewelry, or anything else of value you could have provided as collateral for bail bonds.
Bail forfeiture will affect you even if you believe you are innocent of the underlying charges. The court will still forfeit your bail even if it finds you not guilty of the underlying crime.
Negative Impact on Your Case
Failure to appear can hurt your underlying criminal case. When you willfully fail to appear or flee after a pretrial release, it damages your reputation and could hurt it further. If you are already suspected of a crime, committing another crime even before the original one is solved worsens your situation. The judge can give a harsh sentence based on that, even if you are eligible for a lighter sentence. The judge could also be unwilling to consider possible mitigating factors, like a good reputation, that could influence a favorable outcome in your case.
Like other aggravating factors, failure to appear will worsen your legal situation. The judge can reconsider a plea deal or probation and sentence you to the harshest penalty for that crime.
A Negative Record
Like any other criminal offense, failure to appear becomes part of your record. It can affect various aspects of your life, including the judge’s decisions regarding the cases you will face in the future. For example, a history of failing to appear can affect your eligibility for bail in a future case. You will be considered a flight risk, which could influence a judge’s decision on granting you bail or how much bail they will set after your arrest.
What to Do When You Cannot Appear
Appearing for all scheduled court appearances is critical for the smooth continuity of your case. Criminal cases can drag on for weeks, months, and sometimes years. The time can be longer if the judge keeps postponing your hearings for failure to appear. It is necessary to make yourself available when required to appear to ensure your case remains on course. Then, you can move on with your life, free from legal issues, once the case is over.
Knowing what to do when you cannot appear for a scheduled hearing is essential. A reliable bail bondsman or an attorney can guide you on this matter. Then, you can avoid these harsh consequences of failure to appear. Here are some of the circumstances in which you could fail to appear and how to protect yourself from criminal charges and other consequences of skipping bail:
You Had a Medical Emergency
A medical emergency is a valid ground for failure to appear. However, you must notify the court of the emergency and reschedule the hearing to avoid the severe bail jumping penalties. If you cannot contact the court due to your situation, and you have an attorney, they can notify the court on your behalf. You can also use a close family member or friend to do the notification on your behalf. The judge needs to know your reason for failure to appear in court so they can reschedule your hearing.
You Missed the Hearing Notice
It is not unusual to miss a hearing notice, especially when it is given in your absence. However, this should not be why you suffer severe bail jumping penalties. Let the court know about it immediately after realizing you missed a court date.
You Were in an Accident
Failure to appear in court can also happen if you were involved in an accident before the hearing date or on your way to the court. An accident on the hearing date will delay you and cause you to skip the court hearing altogether if you were injured and needed treatment. However, let the court know so that your hearing can be rescheduled.
You Had a Serious Family Emergency
A family emergency, like a death or illness, can also happen on the day you are scheduled to appear in court. You should notify the court before the judge issues a bench warrant for your arrest.
Find a Reliable Bail Bondsman Near Me
Failure to appear in court is a common yet severe legal issue with grave consequences in California. If you willfully fail to appear, and a judge issues a bench warrant for your arrest, you could face bail-jumping penalties, including possible jail time, a hefty court fine, and bail forfeiture. Failure to appear can also aggravate your current legal situation and make you ineligible for bail after subsequent arrests.
At King Stahlman Bail Bonds, we discuss these issues with you when you seek our help with bail. We offer our service to defendants and families who cannot afford to post cash bail. Our services are reliable, convenient, and timely. However, before providing our bail bond service, we ensure you understand the importance of making all court appearances regarding your case. Call us at 619-232-7127 to learn more about our bail bond service.
