i need help with a question about failure to appear and the laws?

[hi there!]

Back in 2006, I had a charge went to court and it was dismissed. It was re-opened out of the superior court and an officer or whatever you would call the person who serves you papers, came to serve me papers and I wasnt home. A few months later I was arrested for failure to appear. I was arrested in another state so I was held in Nv. for 30 days before being transported to Az. When I finally appeared before the Az judge he said, I dont see how this was a failure to appear if you didint even know you were to appear. I was released and got my life straightened out but it still bothers me that this warrant really made things go VERY bad for me. Screwed my life up big time. Were they wrong and coud I sue the state?
i didnt go away out of state. The state line is 20 feet from my door. I live in AZ but it takes a few seconds to be in nv
also I didnt screw up, I had a warrant and I won my case.

 

[biteme13]

You don't say whether or not you had changed your address. Its not the courts job to keep track of your mail and papers and what not. You say you were in another state and you weren't home. You should have had someone at your house to keep track of your mail. You probably would have found out you had court papers.

I think they were in all legal rights to arrest you. If you knew you were going out of state for a bit you usually notify everyone that you won't be home. You got lucky with your judge. There are MANY that wouldn't have taken you "going out of state" as an excuse.

You can't blame the court system for you causing this whole mess in the first place. Its one thing to blame someone if they rear end you in your car. Its another for having a charge brought against yourself, and then ending up back in court years later. Its like those criminals that blame the court system that they can't get a job. YOU screwed your life up, not the courts. They did what they had to do, you got arrested for a failure to appear (which can happen in small claims court or any court when you're served papers) and guess what? You have to live with the consequences. Its time to grow up and realize you have no one to blame about screwing up your life. Warrant or not, you made the mistake back in 2006. Just let this go behind you. If you're not a felon, I'm sure if this is affecting something important like job etc. you could explain your situation.

My bf says someone has to be at the house to serve papers, but I'd probably if I were you and looking to spend a few thousand to end up back in the courts for a few more weeks to years, call a lawyer. That's about all you can do. Like rest assured you're looking at court fees, lawyer fees, and if you don't win you have to pay those.

Good luck, I'd probably just try and move on with my life. I'd accept I screwed up, move on, and do something other than dwell on what I did.