| So the police came up and hassled you at wherever you were hanging out with your friends and for whatever reasons such as trespassing, loitering, possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana, etc., the police issued you a piece of paper entitled, “Notice To Appear.” So what does this mean? Legally speaking, a notice to appear acts the same as an actual arrest except the police do not take you into formal custody and book you into jail. |  |
By providing you a Notice To Appear, the document itself acts as the “arrest,” and you have ten (10) days to call the clerk of court and set a court date in accordance with the instructions on the notice to appear.
Many people think they do not need a lawyer when they are issued a notice to appear because they do not realize that they have actually been arrested because they didn’t go to jail. That could not be farther from the truth. I would not go into traffic court without an attorney if I want to ensure my legal rights are protected.
The same is true with a notice to appear. However, the police only issue the notice to appear on less serious charges. So, if you or someone you know has been issued a notice to appear for any type of charge, you should contact an attorney to help you with the case. It is very likely that an attorney can attack the notice to appear before the case even hits the light of day in a court room, and the criminal defense lawyer in Jacksonville may be able to get the case dismissed in its entirety. Please call me for a free consultation if you’ve been issued a notice to appear in Florida, and I will help you. While not the worst case scenario in the world, it is something that needs to be addressed immediately by an attorney with good, solid legal knowledge who can possibly put the case to bed without you losing any further sleep over the issue. Please call Whitney R. Lonker at Lonker Law Group, 904-868-LONKER (5665) to guide you through the process
