Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

I'm sure the judge will find a way to demonstrate his or her displeasure at your flakiness.

This question was already asked & answered on Friday.

The answers aren't going to get any better.

"You may have another failure to appear charge against you, which could result in additional fine or penalties. Whether you have an attorney, contact the court immediately to reschedule the hearing. Present your good faith evidence why you missed the court date and beg the judge to pardon you. The court may choose to approve the deal if you do everything right from now."

Hong Shen

Roberts Law Group

5707 Corsa Ave.

Westlake Village, CA 91362

3/16/12, 3:44 pm

"Hell no. If they have to go 'catch' you, that deal is dead. However, if you voluntarily turn yourself in with a reasonable excuse why you missed the date, your attorney will be able to better argue for sympathy. If serious about hiring counsel to help you in this, feel free to contact me."

Terry A. Nelson

Nelson & Lawless

18685 Main St., #175

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

That depends. Normally, when you and the District Attorney make a deal and the Judge decides that he or she won't follow it, you can take back your plea. However, you may recall that when you entered your plea deal you waived a great many of your rights such as your right to have a trial, etc. There is another waiver that some District Attorneys request and that is called a Cruz Waiver. That says that if you fail to do what you're supposed to, such as, meeting with your probation officer, not committing new crimes, showing up for court when you are ordered to, then all agreements are off the table and the Judge can sentence you to whatever he or she believes is appropriate. For example, if you have a case that has the option of 16 months, 2 years or 3 years and you have a deal 16 months, the Judge is no longer bound by that agreement and can sentence you to any of those options and you can't take back your plea. If you don't have the Cruz waiver then you should get the same deal.