Something happened, allegedly. You were arrested by police and released with a notice telling you when to appear in court. You appeared in court when you were supposed to, but nothing was filed. What happens next?
Throughout the Coachella Valley, there are a lot of police officers who make a lot of arrests, but there is only one criminal courthouse to handle it all. It is very common for the first court date to come and go without charges filed; either because the police department did not get the report to the District Attorney in time or the District Attorney (DA) was not ready to file charges in court yet. Either way, when you arrive and look for your name on the master calendar, it is not there. It is not unusual, and it does not mean that your case was dismissed – it probably wasn’t.
In most other areas of Southern California, when a case is not filed in time, but is filed later, the police or prosecuting agency will send a letter to the last known address of the defendant letting him or her know about the new court date; so they will know when to be in court, as promised. For some unknown reason, that does not happen in the Coachella Valley. Instead, the Riverside County District Attorney at the Indio courthouse will file criminal charges – not tell you – and then, when you don’t show up at the court appearance about which you were never told, an arrest warrant will be issued and you will never know about it until the police are arresting you for failure to appear. In the Coachella Valley, I guess non-lawyers are supposed to just magically know how the system works.
Yes, this is crazy and unfair, I agree, but it is how it is here, so what do you do?
I have prepared a short list of instructions that will [hopefully] prevent any additional legal entanglements when your case is not filed by the first scheduled court date:
- When you arrive for your first court date, but your name is not on calendar (the big airport screens on the first floor by the elevators), go to the clerk’s kiosk and get a ticket to be seen by the criminal clerk. Give the clerk your name and any other identifying information so they can look up your case. They will either send you to a courtroom or tell you nothing is filed.
- If the clerk tells you that nothing is filed, ask when to return. Ask if you will be notified whether or when charges are filed. When you have finished at the criminal clerk’s window, exit the courthouse, turn right out the doors, and walk across the east parking lot to the District Attorney’s office in the building next door. When the clerk there is ready for you, give your name and any other identifying information so they can look up your case. The DA clerk will tell you one of four things:
- They have no file. This means that police have not yet submitted a report. You will not have court that day. Ask when to return. Ask if you will be notified whether or when charges are filed.
- …or they have the file, but it is under review. This means they may or may not file charges against you, but it won’t likely be in court that day. Ask when to return. Ask if you will be notified whether or when charges are filed.
- …or they will tell you that the case has been returned to law enforcement for additional investigation. This means there was not enough evidence in the report to charge you…yet…but they still could later if the police resubmit the file. You will not have court that day. Ask when to return. Ask if you will be notified whether or when charges are filed.
- …or the clerk will tell you that the case was rejected. This means that there will be no criminal charges filed. If you were arrested, you may want to consider having your arrest record sealed.
- If the DA clerk tells you that they have no file, your case is under review, or the case was returned to law enforcement for additional investigation, it is very possible (if not likely) that charges will be filed against you at a later date (up to a year later for misdemeanors and 3+ years for felonies) and nobody will tell you, so it will be up to you or your lawyer to keep an eye on the Riverside County Court website for any updates.
It defies all logic, reason, or any semblance of fairness that you can do everything you were supposed to do but could still have a warrant issued because a court date was set for you without any notice. It happens all the time. Many, many good people who followed the instructions they were given get arrested on these warrants and sit – unnecessarily – in jail cells, sometimes for days, waiting to be seen by a judge for a case nobody told them was filed. It seems like something a good local investigative reporter would…investigate.
Lastly, if you are arrested or cited by police for a misdemeanor or felony in the Coachella Valley, your best bet is to contact a criminal defense lawyer for a consultation right away. He or she can guide you through the process and help make sure that you are not a victim of the system.
