Saturday, October 24, 2009

Failing to Appear in Court for a Misdameanor charge (Canadian Citizen)?

I got a misdameanor charge (4th degree DWI) in Minnesota and am wondering what happens if I fail to appear in court on that date? Will I receive a license suspension (and arrest if caught in Minnesota again) or will I be arrested if I even attempt to enter the USA again?
Answers:
Failing to appear on your DWI charge will produce two results:
1) It will result in the indefinite suspension of your driving privileges in Minnesota (even though you possess a Canadian Drivers License); and,
2) A bench warrant will issue for your arrest.
The warrant will appear on the NCIC database, which is a nationwide law enforcement database. That means, you will be arrested on that warrant in any of the 50 states. However, Minnesota will not pay for your extradition. Thus, you will spend up to a month in jail in any state outside of Minnesota awaiting an extradition that won't occur.
In sum, if you plan on returning to the U.S. within the next 10 years, it is vital that you not ignore your next court date.
A warrant for Failure to Appear will be issued in Minnesota. If you return to Minnesota from Canada you are subject to arrest. You may be stopped at the border and questioned, and if so, your name will be entered into NCIC, at which time the warrant will be displayed, and you are subject to arrest. As far as your Canadian Driver's License, I am not sure about whether the USA notifies other countries of violations or not, so you probably need to check this through Canadian sources.

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