What can happen if you try to travel out of the country with an outstanding arrest warrant? ~ AVVO ~ Call Michael A. Haber, Esq. **ARRESTED

Unless physically or financially restrained you “can” do pretty much whatever you want.

However, for every action there is a reaction (cause and effect).

Thus, if the warrant pops up then you will almost certainly be held, and then extradited… which is a very ugly process.

That said, the bottom line with warrants, wherever they issue and whatever they are issued for, is that they suck; well that and that they oftentimes end up in your untimely and inconvenient incarceration. So, when it comes to warrants, anyone anywhere who has knowledge of the existence of the warrant has 2 choices: Either they can choose to deal with it proactively, in an offensive manner, or they can choose to deal with it as a stalker, living defensively, day to day, just waiting until it is ultimately served.

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 to 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 chose to bring the matter to them, an undeniable fact that even an average defense lawyer should be able to use to your advantage during in your case. In the later event however, as with cancer, the longer that you choose to wait (whether paralyzed – figuratively or literally, in denial, self-pity or simply lost in hope and prayer that it’ll heal itself / go away) then more time that it (again, a warrant or cancer) will have to metasticize and destroy you later.

My advise: If you know that there is a warrant with your name on it, then deal with it, and deal with it sooner than later. Contact a local criminal defense lawyer. A skilled and experienced litigator will be able to diagnose your situation, tell you if you enjoy a defense to whatever may underlie your warrant, or whether or not there exists a reasonable explanation for your predicament. A criminal defense lawyer can negotiate on your behalf and may even be able to have the warrant quashed. If there is no alternative to being booked then a litigator can make it as painless as possible, arranging a surrender and preparing for foreseeable eventualities.

Without a crystal ball I cannot tell you what will or will not happen in your case, but I will venture a guess that whether right, wrong or indifferent, your warrant is a potential cancer which is likely to prejudice you sometime down your legal pike.

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