Extradition / Inter-State Warrant Question

If you do not get a bond then you will be held in CA pending extradition. If you “consent” (agree to extradition) then FL will pick you up (usually within 30 days) or CA will release you (you will have to ask your CA lawyer what their courtesy hold time frame is, as a FL law yer I do not kn ow CA law or procedure). If you “context” extradition then you will remain in CA until they resolve the issue, which is likely to take months (and then ultimately result in your extradition anyhow).

As for the FL case you will need a lawyer. I don;t know why you fled /’ became a fugitive, but you did. Being on probation is an alternative to incarceration. It is a gift of sorts, albeit it is given by an Indian giver who can take it back at any time (the alternative being jail). It behooves you to remember that at all times while serving your probationary period. It may help to think of your time on probation as walking on a tightrope. Stray just a little to either side, lose your concentration or balance even for a moment and you fall. However, instead of landing on the ground you land in jail or prison.

Sadly, being picked up on a warrant likely means that you will not be “punished” for your failure to self surrender. In my experience, which has seen more than 23 years worth of seeing VOPs come and go, State Attorney’s and Judges tend to be more reasonable with folks who appear voluntarily than they are with fugitives who are brought in the back door in handcuffs.

The bottom line with warrants is that they suck; well that and that oftentimes they end up in untimely and inconvenient incarceration. That said, when it comes to warrants, anyone anywhere who has knowledge of the existence of the warrant has 2 choices: Either they can deal with it proactively, in an offensive manner or they can live day to day, waiting until it is ultimately served, and then play catch-up (defense).

In this light warrants can be likened to cancer. If it exists (whether it is a warrant or cancer) then you have a problem. You can either choose deal with the problem and hope for the best or you can wait for the problem to deal with you in its own natural fashion. In the former event it may or may not work out favorably for you, but, in the case of a warrant, at least the State and the Judge will have to acknowledge that you voluntarily hose to bring the matter to them, an undeniable fact that even an average defense lawyer should be able to use to your advantage during the pendency of your case. In the later event however, as with cancer, the longer that you choose to wait (whether in denial, self-pity or simply lost in hope and prayer that it’ll heal itself / go away) then more time that it has to metasticize and destroy you from within.

I don’t know whether you have any defense or explanation for your violation but I do know that right, wrong or indifferent your warrant is a veritable cancer which will almost surely prejudice you, whether with the Court, the State or both, sometime down your legal pike.

My advise: Get a local FL criminal defense lawyer working asap.

I hope that I have been helpful in answering your question.