SHOULD I RUN, OR SHOULD I STAY?

By M.J. de la Peña, Esq.

Author of A Layman’s Guide to Criminal Defense

 delapenalawoffice.com  marydelapena-author.com

When faced with a felony charge and a client out of custody on an O.R. release or, God forbid, bail, sometimes criminal defendants think about running from the court. It seems to be most prevalent with those facing drug charges or domestic violence.

My advice? DON’T DO IT!

As many of you may know, California recently reduced many drug felonies to misdemeanors. However, in a recent case just handed down by an Appellate Court in Yolo County, the court said that if a defendant is faced with a felony and runs from the court, then is caught, even if the felony is reduced to a misdemeanor, the defendant can be sentenced on the felony failure to appear!

WHOA! Really?

Absolutely! What that means is that the defendant, Jesse David Perez, (People v. Perez, August 6, 2015, Cal.App.4^th) was sentenced to a prison term because he had a willful failure to appear, even though he would have only faced a county jail sentence on the drug charge. That means that if you run, or willfully fail to appear on a felony, even if the underlying case is dismissed or reduced to a misdemeanor you could ultimately still be sentenced on the felony failure to appear which is 16 months, 2 years, or 3 years in prison.

The only question then is what is a “Willful Failure to Appear”? That means you just simply do not go to court, or worse yet, you run from the proceedings and a warrant goes out for your arrest.

My advice—Don’t Run! Stay and let your attorney work for you!