Many years ago you were young and reckless. You got arrested in Illinois. You wanted to pretend your case didn’t exist, so you skipped out on your court date and eventually moved out of state. Older and wiser, you worry that a routine traffic stop will send you back to Illinois in handcuffs.
Now, you are ready to deal with your past, clear the warrant and deal with the underlying case. Can you put it behind you?
The answer is very likely yes. An attorney can bring your open warrant before your original court to ask a judge to vacate or set it aside. You would likely have to appear in person for a hearing on this procedure, but you may even be able to make later court appearances on zoom.
Once the warrant is set aside, you now have to settle the underlying offense,. An attorney can help negotiate a plea agreement or take your case to trial. If you have been gone a long time, the evidence against you may have grown cold. Therefore, it may be more difficult for the state to try your case. In rare cases, if the offense is very old and relatively minor, the judge might even be willing to dismiss it.
If you have questions about this or another related Illinois criminal or traffic matter, please contact Matt Keenan at 847-568-0160 or matt@mattkeenanlaw.com.
(Besides Skokie, Matt Keenan also serves the communities of Arlington Heights, Chicago, Deerfield, Des Plaines, Evanston, Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Park Ridge, Rolling Meadows, Wilmette and Winnetka.)
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Illinois Jurisprudence: Criminal Law and Procedure. Vol. 1. (LexisNexis 2014).
Illinois Jurisprudence: Criminal Law and Procedure. Vol. 1. (LexisNexis 2014).