New York Desk Appearance Ticket / DAT: What Happens if you Don’t Go to Court?

You have been issued a Desk Appearance Ticket or DAT in New York City (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island) for Assault, Harassment, Petit Larceny Shoplifting, Drug Possession or any other misdemeanor crime. You make a bad mistake worse by not consulting with a NY criminal defense attorney and compound that mistake yet again by missing your court date. Maybe you thought it was no big deal or you merely forgot, but now you need to rectify the situation ASAP. You get on the phone immediately with experienced criminal defense attorneys and ask him or her the following questions: (1) Was a warrant ordered and (2) can I face any additional charges?

In the event that you missed a return date to court for a NY Desk Appearance Ticket it is very likely that a bench warrant has been issued for your immediate arrest. What that may mean to you is that if you are driving somewhere in New York and you are pulled over for something as small as failure to use your signal when changing lanes, the police may run your information, find the warrant and arrest you. There is even a warrant squad that searches for individuals who have bench warrants or who fail to comply with a condition placed on a sentence.

Although it is used very infrequently, the New York State Penal Law has an additional crime that can be charged against an individual who fails to come to court on a date required by the Desk Appearance Ticket. Pursuant to Penal Law Section 215.58, it is a violation if a person is served with a Desk Appearance Ticket, he or she fails to come to court on the date required and does not come back to court within thirty days of this date. In other words, if you receive a Desk Appearance Ticket and merely forget to come to court for thirty days from the date you were supposed to, you can be charged with this offense. This statute is similar to Bail Jumping, but applies to Desk Appearance Tickets and is less serious.

The simple way to avoid a bench warrant or a new charge is to consult with criminal defense attorneys who are familiar the court process, the crimes, and have prior experience as prosecutors. Moreover, you can keep on top of the law by reviewing the blog and up to date information at NYDeskAppearanceTicket.Com and new-york-lawyers.org.