defendant not there yet date was changed - wtf?

[Mmurf]

Jurisdiction

California

California-
Is it illegal for a DA and a judge to change a defendant criminal court date without the defendant or defendant's lawyer present? If not illegal, then at least immoral?

Backstory with detail:
A defendant was given a court date. The DDA expressed she was unhappy with the date and wanted it set for earlier which the judge denied. A few weeks later defendants lawyer calls and says he's on the calendar for Monday (a month earlier than the date they set in court.) No letter was sent to defendant. Both defendant and his lawyer were surprised to see him on the calendar. We can only assume the DDA and the judge spoke about the case off the record and changed the date. Is this legal or moral?

 

[adjusterjack]

Not illegal. Immoral doesn't count.

You need to stop opening multiple threads on your issues with the court. Keep all future questions in this thread. I have deleted your duplicate post on the above question.

 

[Mmurf]

Not illegal. Immoral doesn't count.

You need to stop opening multiple threads on your issues with the court. Keep all future questions in this thread. I have deleted your duplicate post on the above question.

I thought everything had to be recorded? The change of date must not have been. It is immoral then?

 

[Mmurf]

I thought everything had to be recorded? The change of date must not have been. It is immoral then?

Couldn't that change of date have led to him missing court and possibly getting a bench warrant. It doesn't seem ethical. What would you do if it were you?

 

[adjusterjack]

Couldn't that change of date have led to him missing court and possibly getting a bench warrant.

It could have, but it didn't.

What would you do if it were you?

Having dealt with bureaucracies all my life I would have been checking the court every day for updates, especially if my freedom was at stake.

 

[army judge]

I thought everything had to be recorded? The change of date must not have been. It is immoral then?

Ask ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS of your attorney or your public defender.

Be smart, stop discussing ANY aspect of your case with strangers, anyone of whom MIGHT be working for the prosecution.

We all have the RIGHT to remain silent, even criminal defendants!!!

 

[Mmurf]

It could have, but it didn't.



Having dealt with bureaucracies all my life I would have been checking the court every day for updates, especially if my freedom was at stake.

That's how he found out. Checking the calendar each day. That doesn't excuse their actions, though. I still think that the judge and DA shouldn't have off the record meeting without the defendant (or defendants representative) present. What do you do/who do you file a complaint with in instances such as this?

 

[justblue]

Ask ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS of your attorney or your public defender.

Be smart, stop discussing ANY aspect of your case with strangers, anyone of whom MIGHT be working for the prosecution.

We all have the RIGHT to remain silent, even criminal defendants!!!

This is not OP case...it's a friend/family members case. OP thinks s/he knows more about law than the defendants attorney.

Posting history.

 

[Mmurf]

Ask ALL OF YOUR QUESTIONS of your attorney or your public defender.

Be smart, stop discussing ANY aspect of your case with strangers, anyone of whom MIGHT be working for the prosecution.

We all have the RIGHT to remain silent, even criminal defendants!!!

This question doesn't matter to the case nor give away anything the prosecution could use to their advantage. It's a basic procedure question. Shouldn't any change of court date been done on the record?

 

[Mmurf]

I

This is not OP case...it's a friend/family members case. OP thinks s/he knows more about law than the defendants attorney.

Posting history.

don't be presumptuous. and it turns out I did catch something the attorney failed to catch.

 

[Mmurf]

I

don't be presumptuous. and it turns out I did catch something the attorney failed to catch.

and whatever the reason for the question, it's still a question and this is a q and a forum.

can't help that I find there are many things wrong with our criminal justice system that no n one seems to be addressing. how can we expect proper justice reform if we avoid discussing the things that need reforming.

 

[army judge]

how can we expect proper justice reform if we avoid discussing the things that need reforming.

How, you ask?

Contact ALL of your city/village/town, county, state, and federal elected officials.

They're supposed to care about that crap.

Dumb, little, insignificant, old me; I don't care about anything these days.

I'm just biding my time until the appointed hour arrives for me to assume room temperature!!!

Good luck to you, mate.

 

[Mmurf]

How, you ask?

Contact ALL of your city/village/town, county, state, and federal elected officials.

They're supposed to care about that crap.

Dumb, little, insignificant, old me; I don't care about anything these days.

I'm just biding my time until the appointed hour arrives for me to assume room temperature!!!

Good luck to you, mate.

I was thinking about writing am opinion piece and submitting it to our small newspaper, but since it's not technically illegal then they technically didn't do anything wrong. Even if it's immoral, and I'm not even sure if it is that immoral, they could always reply that they did it because they are so busy, etc, etc. and that very well may be the case, but at some point all the little things they "oops on" (ie, not getting discovery in on time, omitting witnesses from their witnesses list, contacting their witnesses before the witness has been excused) add up and violate the defendants civil rights.

 

[zddoodah]

Is it illegal for a DA and a judge to change a defendant criminal court date without the defendant or defendant's lawyer present?

The district attorney has no ability to change a "court date." Court appearances can only be changed by the court, and it is both legal and common for "court dates" to be changed without anyone being present.

A defendant was given a court date.

For what purpose was this "court date" scheduled? Trial? Preliminary hearing? Motion hearing? Status conference? Something else?

A few weeks later defendants lawyer calls and says he's on the calendar for Monday (a month earlier than the date they set in court.)

While you wrote your post in the third person, I assume you're the defendant and that, on an unspecified date, your lawyer called you and told you the case was on calendar for Monday (today, I suppose). Correct?

We can only assume the DDA and the judge spoke about the case off the record and changed the date.

That's certainly a possibility, but there are many other possibilities that are more logical and reasonable.

Is this legal or moral?

It's not illegal, and morality isn't relevant. It's not a philosophy class.