Finding out there is a warrant for you can be incredibly stressful, especially if you know that the underlying charges are quite serious. Our attorneys may be able to help you get your warrant cleared, but it depends on a lot of factors.
First, you need to look at arrest warrants vs. bench warrants. Arrest warrants usually cannot be cleared, but you can arrange a surrender to avoid any surprises, get bail set up, then get your day in court. With bench warrants, there may be a mistake or side issue that caused the warrant in the first place, and simple mistakes can be cleared easily in some courts. Other times, your lawyer can arrange to get even serious failure to appear issues cleared up by getting you a new court date.
Contact our Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers today at Kenny, Burns & McGill by calling (215) 423-5500.
Can My Lawyer Stop an Arrest Warrant?
Sometimes, our Norristown, PA criminal defense lawyers can stop an arrest warrant from being issued in the first place, but we often cannot get the warrant retracted once it has been signed.
Many times, arrest warrants result from an investigation, and you might not know about it until you get a knock on the door or get picked up outside your workplace. In these cases, it’s already too late; the arrest is done, so there’s nothing to do to stop the warrant.
However, if you already have a lawyer and know about the investigation, it is possible to cooperate with the investigation and potentially get the police to drop the case without ever getting to the arrest warrant. Never try to talk your way out of an arrest on your own, but know that sometimes a lawyer can provide police with alibis or information they need to take you off their suspect list.
Can My Lawyer Cancel an Arrest or Search Warrant?
If we are working with you during the investigation, it is possible that the police will tell us when they are seeking an arrest or a search warrant. Once they have a warrant, there is usually no process to challenge or stop the warrant. However, they may notify your lawyer of the warrant and give you time to cooperate.
Can I Avoid Getting Arrested for a Warrant?
As mentioned, we usually cannot clear an arrest warrant, but police may give room for you to cooperate by turning yourself in or surrendering.
With a typical arrest warrant, police get the right to arrest you anywhere they can find you and that they have legal access to. That means they can wait outside your house or your workplace and grab you in a potentially traumatic, dangerous, or embarrassing way. They may even get a search warrant to go into your house and find you there.
Alternatively, the better option for everyone is usually to notify you of the arrest warrant and ask you to turn yourself in. This allows you to go to the station, get booked, and set up a bail hearing right away. Your lawyer can go with you and help you through this process, ideally getting bail set and getting you released on the same day.
Of course, this depends on the police actually giving us notice of the warrant and giving us an opportunity to cooperate, which they might not do.
Can You Clear a Bench Warrant?
Bench warrants are a completely different situation, and you can often get a bench warrant cleared with a phone call and a calendar.
What is a Bench Warrant
Judges issue bench warrants in the first place because they need a person who has already been charged and given a court date to come back to court. Usually, this is because of a failure to appear at a prior court date.
When a bench warrant is out for you, police can arrest you any time they come across you in a future encounter (e.g., from a traffic stop) and run a warrant check. Then, they deliver you to the judge or court that issued the warrant so you can appear at your next court date and get bail reassessed.
Requesting the Judge Clear the Warrant
In the same way judges are the ones to issue the warrant, they are the ones to clear the warrant. If there was a reasonable problem with your notice of your court date (e.g., mail was not delivered) or you had an emergency, the judge may be understanding and cancel the warrant.
Other times, it takes a request and some kind of assurance you will appear at your next court date. Sometimes a guarantee from the lawyer is enough.
We may be able to call the court and talk to the judge, requesting a new hearing date be scheduled. The judge might cancel or withdraw the warrant ahead of that hearing, or they could leave it on the record until you actually do appear.
Can a Judge Deny Your Request?
Judges do not have to cancel the warrant if they do not want to. Instead of rescheduling the case, the judge might want to see you turn yourself in and submit to custody and a new bail hearing first. That way, there may be bond or bail money on the line to help guarantee that you will come back to your next court date.
What Do I Do After My Warrant Has Been Cleared?
If we can successfully avoid an arrest warrant, then there is nothing to do next. There is no case, there are no charges, and the investigators might not be after you anymore. The only thing to do is avoid any future legal issues.
With a bench warrant, once the warrant is cleared, there are usually still pending charges against you. You may have a new court date to show up to, and it is vital to appear at that and any future court dates. Our lawyers can represent you in the pending case and work to get the charges dropped or dismissed.
If you end up getting arrested or having to turn yourself in, then the case is now pending against you, and you will need a defense lawyer to fight that case.
Call Our Pennsylvania Criminal Defense Lawyers Today
Call Kenny, Burns & McGill’s Lehigh, PA criminal defense lawyers at (215) 423-5500 for a free case review.
