Arrest, Search, Seizure, Warrant Arrested for failure to appear 17 years ago

[AShiv]

I was stopped for speeding, informed that I had two outstanding warrants, and arrested for failure to appear from 17 years ago. I was told that I was arrested for passing 2 worthless bank checks. The address on my warrant was an old Post office box I had. To my knowledge I never received the summons (I was 19). I had to pay $750 bond. A month ago I accepted a new job with a LARGE company (in the same state but different city/county). They required a full background screen and passed with no problems. I also had an auto accident a month ago and highway patrol ran my license at that time, again no problem. We returned to the same small town that we previously lived in for the holidays and somehow these warrants appeared!!! How is this possible and what can I do now? I have no proof that I paid these checks since it was 17 years ago.

 

[mightymoose]

You will have to appear in court and explain the situation. There is a good chance that after 17 years the victim (whoever received the bad checks) and any police officers involved are not around anyway. You might stand a good chance of having the charges dropped. However... if we are talking about checks for large amounts... different story.

The arrest is legitimate. Sucks, but legit.
The officer at your accident likely checked your license status but did not run you for warrants. They are not necessarily done together. Your background investigation from your employer also may not have dug very deep either... they could easily miss nearly 20 year old warrants and may not have even had the means to check warrants.... they probably only checked you for actual convictions.

Anyway- your past caught up with you. Go to court and sort it out. You will have opportunity to speak with a public defender, or you could get private counsel if you want. Personally, I would feel comfortable with the public defender in this case... but if things starting getting ugly for some reason I would trade up I bet the PD can make these go away real easy.

 

[AShiv]

Thanks! The problem is: I was arrested yesterday. We are still 500 miles from home and I am going to the courthouse/clerk of court/whoever tomorrow to see if I can get a court date this week so that we can go home, back to work, and get the kids back in school. We were due to go home today but I do not want to have to return for a court date.

 

[mightymoose]

Good luck with that.
Had you not bailed out you would have been in front of a judge within 48 hours... tough trade off though.
Even if you get a later date, you might be able to resolve this through a private attorney and never have to return to court.