What Should I Do If I Missed My Court Appearance?

If you’ve been accused of committing a crime, you’ll be obligated to attend court at a predetermined time and date. If it’s not a traffic offense, more than one court appearance is scheduled , all of which you are legally required to attend. If you don’t appear when you are due to, your circumstances may deteriorate further. Here’s what you should do if you’ve missed your court date.

Understand That You May Face Worse Penalties

If you fail to appear in court for your criminal case, you may be indicted with a new crime specifically for missing your hearing. While usually a misdemeanor, if the crimes you were supposed to appear for were felonies, your failing to appear may also be charged as a felony. If you are convicted, this might have far-reaching and life-altering implications.

INFORM THE COURT OF ANY EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES

You should inform the court if you have extenuating circumstances that prevented your appearing in court on time. You may potentially be excused from failing to attend your hearing if you can show that you had a good reason to have missed the appearance.

Tell your attorney if:

• Someone in your family was very ill or died. You may be able to show a death certificate or hospital records that are dated around the time you were supposed to be in court to show that you were grieving or attending to a sick family member.
• You didn’t receive a formal notice of the time and date of your appearance. If the state can’t show that you were properly served with the notice of your hearing, you may not be held responsible for missing it. The burden of proof in this instance is on the state.

What a Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Do

At Segura & Kiatta Criminal Defense, we know how frightening it can be to not only face criminal charges to begin with, but then to also have additional charges levied against you for missing a court date. We are dedicated to providing each of our clients with an aggressive defense aimed at receiving the most favorable verdict possible.

To learn more about how a Texas criminal defense attorney can help you handle criminal charges and the additional penalties of failure to appear, contact us today. We’re available to answer your questions and start putting together a strong defense right away. Call our office now at 281.570.6400.