Quote:
Originally Posted by Gioco
Had you filed a notice of appearance? Had you become counsel of record? If not, it might be a way to protect your clients from this sort of result.
No state I practiced in would adjudicate a criminal defendant (not even on a jaywalking ticket) in their absence unless the trial had begun with them present and they chose not to attend.
I had not put in appearance yet as I hadn't been paid yet. I didn't want to be on the hook for a court appearance and get stiffed, especially since CL is not from the area.
I'm in PA, fwiw. Talked to our magistrate, they said tough **** and I had to appeal, but I was able to get the fee for appeal waived at least, due to the circumstances. Magistrate was able to give me a printout showing they mailed it, but CL claims never received it, so who knows.
But yeah, magistrates don't gaf. They only care about cops and landowners in the area, i.e. people who vote. My CL can't vote in our county, since he's from North Carolina, and election day is literally 5 days away, so absolutely no chance I'm getting any help or sympathy on this one. They're bending over backwards helping these guys out to lock those votes up. Democracy in action!
edit: I should clarify. If I was granted a reconsideration hearing at the summary level, the citing officer would have to come out on his own time, unpaid, to do the hearing. If we appeal to common pleas, officer can claim it as work time, so he can be paid for showing up. Once I learned that, I realized we had no chance of getting reconsideration lol. Again, so 5 days before the election, magistrates definitely not going to force a cop to show up for unpaid work for a little citation like this.