Dealing with the criminal justice system can be a scary and confusing experience, especially for those whose prior experience with law enforcement and the criminal justice system is limited to what they have seen on television and in the movies. When you hear warrants discussed, you may not understand exactly what this means. Indeed, there are multiple different types of warrants that can lead to your arrest. If you are concerned that a warrant has been issued for your arrest in Los Angeles County, the best thing you can do is to contact a skilled, local Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer like Eric D. Davis, Attorney at Law. Below, we explain how to find out if you have a warrant out, how different types of warrants work, and how an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Glendale, CA like Eric Davis can help you deal with each type.
Types of Warrants in Los Angeles County
There are two types of warrants that allow the police to arrest you, with one type being known as an arrest warrant and the other type being known as a bench warrant. There are also search warrants, which can lead to your arrest if something is found during the search that gives the officers probable cause to arrest you. Anytime you are concerned about any time of warrant, reach out to an experienced San Bernardino criminal defense lawyer like Eric Davis right away.
Arrest Warrant
An arrest warrant is issued after the police conduct some sort of investigation into a crime and make an application to a judge. If the judge believes there is probable cause for an arrest to be made, they will issue the warrant. The police can, and usually will act on the warrant immediately and place you under arrest. As noted above, you or a loved one should reach out to a battle-tested criminal defense attorney like Eric D. Davis, Attorney at Law as soon as possible once you learn an arrest warrant has been issued against you. Often within only hours, you will be faced with important early events like your arraignment and bail hearing, where you will not want to be without an experienced Los Angeles lawyer for criminal arraignments by your side.
Bench Warrant
Unlike a regular arrest warrant, a bench warrant is not issued upon application to a judge by a prosecutor or the police. Instead, bench warrants are issued on the judge’s own volition when you feel to meet some sort of obligation to the court. Most commonly, a judge will issue a bench warrant when you fail to show up for a required court appearance. Bench warrants can also be issued when you fail to pay required court fines and fees or fail to appear as a witness when subpoenaed, among other situations.
Search Warrants
Search warrants are also granted by a judge upon application of a police officer. They allow officers to search the area proscribed by the judge in the warrant and often come with expiration dates. In some cases, search warrants can lead to the discovery of evidence that gives the officers probable cause to make a warrantless arrest of you. Other times, the evidence obtained during a search warrant can be used as part of the application for an arrest warrant. A skilled Los Angeles lawyer for an illegal search and seizure like Eric Davis can challenge any warrantless searches or searches that exceeded the allowable scope or time frame proscribed in the warrant.
How Can I Learn If I Have a Warrant for My Arrest in Los Angeles
When it comes to an arrest warrant, you will usually not have any sort of heads up that one has been issued. This is because the police typically act on arrest warrants immediately by coming to your home or place of business right away to place you under arrest. If you do learn of an arrest warrant issued against you before it has been executed, you should contact a skilled Los Angeles-based criminal defense lawyer in Long Beach, CA like Eric Davis, who can try to negotiate your surrender without any sort of public arrest.
For a bench warrant, however, you will not necessarily know if it has been issued because the police do not typically act on bench warrants right away to place you under arrest. Instead, the warrant will simply be out there, shared with state and even interstate authorities. Whenever they will wait until you have some sort of contact with them, usually during a routine traffic stop, and then will arrest you and transfer you to the proper jurisdiction after running a warrant check. You can call the local court clerk and try to find out if a bench warrant has been issued against you, but it is advisable to have a skilled criminal defense attorney in Riverside County like Eric Davis do so on your behalf. If such a warrant exists, your attorney can then try to negotiate a deal for you to surrender without being arrested and work to get the judge to quash the warrant. Then, we can help you deal with the underlying circumstances that led to the warrant being issued in the first place.
If You Believe There May Be a Warrant for Your Arrest in Los Angeles County, Call Our Criminal Defense Attorneys
Most of the time, when a warrant is issued for your arrest, you will find out fairly quickly and with little warning, and the police typically act on arrest warrants immediately. With bench warrants, you may believe one has been issued due to your failure to show up for court or meet some other obligation under the law, but not know for sure because you do not receive an immediate notice and the police do not seek you out for immediate arrest. In either case, the best thing you can do as soon as you learn of an arrest warrant or bench warrant or even just suspect one has been issued is to contact a skilled criminal defense and warrant recall attorney in Los Angeles like Eric D. Davis, Attorney at Law, who can help you deal with the matter. Call us today at (909) 861-8075.