Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

If I run from my five year joint suspended sentence warrent for seven years will it still be file able after that long?


Asked on 6/25/13, 9:29 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys

Zadik Shapiro Law Offices of C. Zadik Shapiro

Since the complaint has already been filed it will remain on the record indefinitely.

Read more
Answered on 6/26/13, 1:36 am
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

I agree with Mr. Shapiro. There's no statute of limitations that you are running out by being a fugitive.

Read more
Answered on 6/26/13, 10:35 am
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Roach are right. The charges against you have already been filed. That's what has to be done before the limitations period expires.

Warrants have no time limit. The prosecutor can withdraw a warrant while the fugitive remains at large, but there's rarely good reason to do so. A very small fraction of warrants turn out to be defective, but I see no reason to believe that's true here. Otherwise, your warrant will remain in place until you surrender, are captured, or die.

Talk to a lawyer about resolving this ASAP. The longer you wait, the worse your situation will become.

Good luck.

Read more
Answered on 6/26/13, 11:07 am
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

There is nothing for them to 'file'.

There is no 'statute of limitations' on a warrant.

Plus, you now have new charges of ''failure to appear', probation violation, and probably 'flight to avoid'. The arrest warrants on those charges are also 'forever'.

To handle a warrant, you must turn yourself in to the issuing court, with or without an attorney. On felony charges, the defendant must be personally present at every court hearing and appearance. You�ll try to negotiate a recall of the warrant[s] and seek bail reduction or OR release. You�ll try to negotiate a plea bargain on any �Failure to Appear� charge or probation violation that caused the warrant. You�ll try to negotiate a plea bargain or take to trial the new outstanding charges that caused the warrants. Turning yourself in voluntarily will result in a better outcome than being brought in chains to court after arrest on the warrant. Effective plea-bargaining by your attorney, using whatever legal defenses, facts and sympathies there may be, could possibly keep you out of jail/prison, or at least reduce it, and may enable you to get your probation and programs reinstated. Unless you're competent to effectively represent yourself in court against a professional prosecutor trying to put you in jail, most people hire an attorney who can.

If serious about hiring counsel to help in this, feel free to contact me.

Read more
Answered on 6/28/13, 1:22 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Criminal Law questions and answers in California