So a lady friend of mine recently informed me that she had totally forgotten to pay a traffic ticket she got because of a wreck. She missed the court date (payment deadline), so I gave her a ride to the Atlanta courts where they told her she has a warrant out and that she needed to appear in court before a certain date, or else have her license suspended etc. She's kind of freaking out, and being that I don't have a whole lot of experience in this matter, I just keep telling her she'll be fine. So questions: 1. Does the fact that she has warrant on her mean that Dog The Bounty Hunter is going to come crashing through her door? (I don't really understand the concept of a warrant other than for arrest) 2. She's going to court tomorrow to try and get it fixed. What can she expect (fine, community service)?
1: no, she is to low of a bounty for some bounty hunter to come after (if there even is a bounty) its called a bench warrant. 2: fine, and if she actually has a lagitment reason for being late, she will be ok, maybe a small fine. here little education for ya: http://www.essortment.com/lifestyle/legalwarrantsb_sizm.htm I have had a bench warrant once, and nothing happened. Told the judge I had no idea that I needed to come to court (which I didnt) and he let me go with just paying the fine for the original ticket. I had gotten a ticket from one of those cameras, and they sent my ticket in the middle of a move, I ended up not getting. Tell her to breath and calm down, if its Cobb County (http://statecourtclerk.cobbcountyga.gov/criminal-trafficviolation.htm) its only 65.00 bucks.
No its not...... its nothing more than a slap on the wrist, and they say dont do it again. Fines for misdemeanor are usually less than the ticketing fine. Depends on the County but anywhere from 50 - 100 bucks from what I have found of the net. You can always call the clerk of courts and they will tell you.
Uh, if she has a bench warrant and she should get stopped or have her license run, she will most likely go to jail. I can not count the number of people that I arrested because they had a bench warrant out for them when I was a cop. If there is a warrant, there is no option. You HAVE to arrest the person per 99% of police department's standard operating procedures.
^Luckily (I guess) her car was totalled anyways so she couldn't drive. Although I do find it weird that yesterday she was in the courthouse, cops everywhere, when the courthouse employee told her that there was a warrant for her. But whatever, I took her to court today and everything got worked out. $270 dollar total fine, but nothing else.