Can you avoid a VOP warrant due to hospitalization / medical conditions? ~ “Best Answer” on AVVO ~ Call Michael A. Haber, Esq. @ 1-888-SHARK-8-1

Like it or not you must deal with your warrant (or it will deal with you). The bottom line with warrants is that they suck (well that and that oftentimes they end up in untimely and inconvenient incarceration).

When it comes to the subject of 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 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 (which is an undeniable fact that even an inexperienced lawyer should be able to use your advantage during the pendency of your case). In the later event, however, just as with cancer, the longer that you choose to wait (whether in denial, self-pity or simply because you are lost in hope, desperation and prayer that it’ll heal itself / go away) then more time that it has to metasticize and destroy you from within.

Assuming that you can prove up your medical condition then it sounds to me like you may have some defenses to your charges, and now is the time to deal with them, proactively. You should discuss the matter with an experienced 561 area criminal defense lawyer STAT.

Any violation of probation – technical or substantive – is enough to cause you to be sentenced to the statutory maximum that you could have received when you were first placed on probation minus credit for any jail time that you had already served in the case.

There will be a hearing held. If the judge decides by a preponderance of the evidence that you willfully and substantially violated any material term of your probation (much less multiple terms) then you can (and will) be sentenced from a low of reinstatement to probation to a high of whatever your statutory maximum punishment was before you accepted probation minus credit for any jail time that you had already served in the case.

Your best bet at minimizing your exposure is to have a seasoned and skilled criminal defense litigator efforting on your behalf. Thus…

My advise (again): Locate an experienced 561 area criminal defense lawyer, engage in a meaningful consultation and get yourself some advise which is legally sound and has been custom tailored as possible to meet your specific reasonable needs in your unique case.

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