Legal Question in Criminal Law in Texas

I live in joshua tx and my son was arrested on a failure to appear however after getting all his tickets and paper work together i found we did not receive a copy of the tickets for the failure to apear, on the tickets in question he was brought home by the police officer who stated my son tried to evade and when caught he had some unidentifiable pills on him. I was then told by the officer we would be receiving a letter from the juvenille probation office to get a court date set. well he released my son to me and left. so i was under the assumption when we went to court for this the matter would be taken care of. Well my son was picked up on the failure to appear . So if we did not receive a copy of the tickets and were not aware of having to set a court date which i did not, but the court apparently set one and we were not informed of the date. how can he fail to appear if he had no knowledge of this.?


Asked on 9/07/11, 3:49 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Cynthia Henley Cynthia Henley, Lawyer

If he had a failure to appear when the police tried to stop him and allege that he evaded and had the pills, then it was for not appearing for another ticket that he had previously received. When the police released him to you after the evading / pill arrest, he had not taken care of the failure to appear situation - they simply released him. He is not charged with failing to appear at the juvenile court setting - you will get that date in the future (and a contact by the probation department seeking information from you. You and he will be served IN PERSON by a constable or other cop with a copy of the juvenile charge instrument.)

You will be responsible for hiring him a lawyer in the juvenile court unless you are indigent. When you hire the lawyer, ask him how you check to see if there are any additional outstanding warrants (or call a local bondsman, or if the town is small, the JP or municipal court where the traffic matters are handled.) The juvenile case is separate (and far more important) than the traffic. Evading in a motor vehicle is a felony.

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Answered on 9/08/11, 7:25 pm


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