If you do not hire a lawyer, you will have to go in on your court date and appear to have your case heard. If you have missed court or showed up late, then you can have problems for your case. We recently had a person who had shown up late on their court date before we began representing them. While the Assistant District Attorney did give them a new court date, there was a “Failure to Appear” marked on the file. When we went to address the case, we had to take care of this for the client. This Failure to Appear can cause big problems for you. The first is that it adds a $200 fee that must be paid, on top of the underlying fine that you have been given. The second is that the person’s license will be revoked by the Division of Motor Vehicles. In some cases, the “Failure to Appear” may be stricken, which will save you the $200 fee and will keep your license from being revoked.
If you missed court for certain offenses, an order for arrest can be issued. If an order has been issued for your arrest, you should consult with an attorney so that you can get your case “added on” to be heard again, and so that your attorney can try to have your order for arrest stricken.
If you do have an attorney, he or she can let you know if you need to appear on your court date. Generally, if your court date is in courtroom 1130, and you have an attorney, you need not be present. If, however, your court is on the fourth floor of the Mecklenburg County Courthouse, then you have to appear. Typically, traffic tickets never make it past Courtroom 1130, so if you hire an attorney it is very likely that you will not have to go to court.
If you don’t have an attorney, the best thing you can do is to show up for court when you have a case. If you need more time to deal with the case, you can most likely get it if you ask for a continuance. However, if you don’t go to court and expect to get a new court date, you are in for a nasty surprise. Instead, you will get a “Failure to Appear,” as discussed above. If you have already gotten a “Failure to Appear” on your case, it may be time to contact a traffic ticket attorney buy cialis overnight delivery.
