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 Chattanooga Arrest Warrant Bench Warrant AttorneyAn outstanding warrant for your arrest can be issued for several reasons. Criminal bench warrants can be issued for failure to appear in court. A warrant for your arrest can also be ordered by a judge if you are a suspect with a crime and the police are looking for you. Most of the time, unless the offense is of a serious nature, the police are not going to be spending their time looking for you. Failure to not appear in court is a relatively minor matter, for a traffic ticket or other similar violations. But this does not mean you are not in some real trouble. Criminal Penalties for an Outstanding WarrantIn Tennessee there are additional criminal penalties for failure to appear, and can be considered a separate criminal offense from whatever underlying event required you to be in court. Typically, you are facing an additional felony offense if you failed to appear on a felony charge, and a misdemeanor if the original criminal court appearance was for a misdemeanor offense. Anytime you are alleged to have been a fugitive, you may have to anticipate tougher penalties at sentencing if you are convicted. What Can a Criminal Defense Lawyer Do About My Outstanding Warrant? There are actually a number of legal defense options to fix this problem before it gets out of hand, and before you are picked up and arrested on the warrant. Your attorney will certainly advice you to turn yourself in. However, in doing so your lawyer can help explain how it may have been a misunderstanding. If you missed a court date, or whatever happened. By turning yourself in and acting in good faith, a lawyer can work to fix the problem, and in some cases, possibly get you a new court date without facing any additional penalties. What About Old Warrants? Can they Still Affect Me?Yes, old warrants will affect you. You can be arrested at any time. Even for an incident that is decades old.
If you are considered a fugitive, there is no statute of limitations on the charges. The fact that you are still at large and technically a fugitive means it is still considered an active crime. Legal options with old criminal arrest warrantsAn experienced Chattanooga criminal defense attorney may be able to argue on your behalf that the underlying charges can no longer be proven. After a long period of time, evidence disappears, witnesses move, and police officers retire. So if you are wanted on a charge that they simply can not prove, the warrant may be withdrawn. Will I Get Caught? Eventually, yes. These things never go away on their own. With an increase in common police surveillance technologies like automatic license plate recognition scanning systems and red light cameras, putting the pieces together is easier than ever. You can be stopped just driving down the street without doing anything wrong, if your license plate is added to a database of suspected owners with outstanding warrants. Then you are arrested, and your legal defense options become much more limited, and the potential consequences even more serious. Get a Free Consultation - Call Us today at (423) 756–0536If you would like information on arrest warrants and bench warrants, you can also use our contact email form to request a free confidential consultation, for any questions you might have and to schedule an appointment. Chattanooga Arrest Warrant Bench Warrant Practice Areas
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