New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
From shoplifting and drug possession to assault and possessing forged instruments, the New York Desk Appearance Ticket lawyers and former Manhattan prosecutors at Saland Law PC routinely handle Desk Appearance Tickets (D.A.T.s) issued in New York City arrests. While Desk Appearance Tickets are routinely issued to those with verifiable addresses in the New York City area, that is not always the case. Fortunately, the police will occasionally give a D.A.T. to a foreign national with a temporary local address. While this courtesy prevents those arrested from being forced into “the system” for up to 24 hours, it also often creates a future issue that requires the assistance of NYC criminal attorney.
The End of Vacation and Expiring Visas
Because a Desk Appearance Ticket requires your attendance in court approximately a month after your arrest, law enforcement has given you a golden opportunity to plan your defense before ever stepping foot in court. Unfortunately, if you are a foreign national from Australia, Britain, India, France or any other nation, your vacation may be over or your visa may expire before ever having your day in court.
Failure to Appear The equation is fairly simple. If you fail to appear in court on the stipulated date, a warrant will be issued for your arrest. While it is highly unlikely that you will be pursued overseas, if and when you return to the United States the warrant will still be outstanding. Whether it is ten months or ten years later, upon your return it is very like that the warrant will “pop” and you will be arrested upon entering the United States. For example, should you fly into John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport, you could be taken into custody and brought to central booking or court where you would then wait to see a judge.
What Steps can be Taken to Avoid a Warrant Because you were arrested, merely calling the District Attorney’s Office where your case will be pending will likely not do much. In other words, merely because you have to leave the country will not convince prosecutors to dismiss your case. If the position of law enforcement was that your case was not worthy of prosecution, then you would not have been arrested in the first place. It is likely that the best you would be able to do would be to have the matter adjourned a month or so into the future. At that time you would have to return back to the United States at your own cost.
An alternative method of handling your absence would be to retain local counsel in New York City. A New York criminal defense attorney could appear in your absence and likely avoid a warrant. Moreover, he or she can potentially resolve your case in your absence depending on the nature or the crime(s) and allegation(s).
What is Needed While there is no specific rule or law that sets forth when or how (or if) it can be done, generally the judges in New York City are amenable to working through the problem faced by foreign nationals. In Manhattan Criminal Court, for example, judges often times want proof of travel (plane confirmation), a copy of a passport from the accused’s home country and a notarized affidavit that the attorney has explained the law and is authorized to appear on the case in the defendant’s absence.
Proof the Case is Resolved Regardless of the ultimate disposition in the case, your criminal defense attorney in New York can likely get you proof from the court that the case is closed. The court clerk issues a Certificate of Disposition that costs $10. This certificate will set forth the outcome of your case. If, for example, your counsel is able to obtain an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal (ACD) whereby your case is dismissed and sealed after six months, your attorney would ultimately get a certificate that would state in substance that there is no longer a public record of your arrest and prosecution. Obviously what is set forth on the certificate is directly related to the ultimate outcome.
For a wealth of information on New York Desk Appearance Tickets as well as the countless crimes that can be charged through these arrests, please follow the highlighted link or review either the New York Criminal Lawyer Blog (NewYorkCriminalLawyerBlog.Com) and the Saland Law PC website.
Established by two New York criminal lawyers who previously served as Manhattan prosecutors, Saland Law PC represents those accused of crimes throughout the New York City region.
* In addition to the Saland Law PC website and the New York Criminal Lawyer Blog, please review NYDeskAppearanceTicket.Com for information on Desk Appearance Tickets in New York City.