If you have been charged with a crime – traffic, misdemeanor, or felony – in Fort Collins / Larimer County, you will be expected to appear in court at all scheduled court dates. Not appearing at one of these court dates will result in an FTA or Failure to Appear. The court generally assumes that you skipped out on your responsibility to appear because you don’t care. We know that that is very often not the case. Life happens sometimes. The best thing you can do if you FTA at court is contact the court as soon as possible. It might still result in a bench warrant being issued, but at least the court will know that you care. The worst thing you can do is not follow up and try and live your life with a warrant hanging over your head. It won’t look good to the judge when you let a lot of time pass or are brought back in on the warrant because law enforcement finally caught up with you.
Acceptable Reasons for Missing a Court Date in Larimer County
We have seen many defendants present reasons why they missed their court dates. Some are valid reasons and others are weak excuses. The court will want proof to support any reason you have for not showing up when you were supposed to, so don’t expect to be able to lie and get away with it. Some very valid reasons for missing a court date include:
- You were in the hospital;
- You were involved in a car accident;
- You were in custody and simply not brought to your appearance by jail staff;
- You were attending another court appearance at the same time; or
- You were unable to attend due to severe weather conditions.
Again, these reasons are what we would consider to be ‘good’ because they are all easily verifiable. It will be easy to provide documentation related to all these reasons and may, therefore, make it more reasonable for a judge to understand your Failure to Appear or FTA.
Bad Reasons to Miss Court in Fort Collins or Loveland
There are numerous reasons you can give the court as to why you were not present when you were supposed to be there that the court generally finds to be a bad reason. Some of these bad reasons include:
- You forgot or wrote down the wrong date;
- Your car broke down or you ran out of gas;
- You didn’t have anyone to watch your kids;
- You overslept.
All the above reasons show the judge a lack of understanding and respect for criminal justice system. This is not a good impression to make on the person who may be deciding your fate.
Will I Get Arrested If I Missed My Court Date in Larimer County?
Depending on how you handle the situation, you may or may not be arrested after an FTA. If you move quickly to fix the problem, it’s likely the judge will not have you arrested. The longer you wait, the greater the chance that you will get arrested. So, if you miss court, it’s best that you come to the courthouse ASAP. Judges are much more willing to cut you a break and keep you out of jail if you take responsibility and address the issue timely.
If you’ve been charged with a crime and failed to appear – FTA – for court on your Larimer County case, call our experienced law firm today at 970-658-0007. Judges tend to feel that defendants who hire a criminal defense attorney for their case are serious about handling things and moving forward in a positive direction, not missing court again. Together, we can protect your future.
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