What should I do if I have a bench warrant in New Mexico?
The brief answer is that if you have a bench warrant, you need to get a lawyer involved as soon as possible. This is the sign that the situation is far too serious to deal with on your own; you need professional help because your very liberty is now at stake.
A bench warrant is issued by a court, ordering law enforcement to arrest the target and bring him or her to the Court to address the underlying issue. Bench warrants differ from arrest warrants in that arrest warrants are requested by law enforcement before a court case is proceeding in order to take the suspect into custody, do an interview and then possibly to begin a case. Bench warrants typically relate to cases which are already open, whether you knew there was a case or not. Bench warrants may have power beyond the local jurisdiction in which they were issued, especially if they involve a felony charge. If a law enforcement officer encounters you and learns there is a bench warrant, they are ordered to arrest you and put you in custody until you can be brought before the issuing judge. If you are not in the same county as the judge that issued the warrant, this can be a terribly painful and slow process because you may be transported through the jail and prison network over miles by extremely uncomfortable means.
Bench warrants can be issued for a number of reasons. If a new and serious case is indicted by a grand jury, the Court may issue a bench warrant to bring you in for the arraignment. Most commonly, a bench warrant is issued after a defendant misses a hearing. Sometimes the issuance of the bench warrant is unfair; what if you didn’t know about the hearing or have some important excuse why you didn’t make the hearing? Unfortunately, with bench warrants the Court will only take the explanation after you get arrested unless you have an attorney that can smooth the situation over. Bench warrants are also issued when there is an allegation that conditions of release, like use of drugs or contacting witnesses, have been violated.
Sometimes bench warrants are issued with the possibility of bonds or surety posts to cancel them and trigger a voluntary hearing. However, the possibility of bond is generally only applicable on lower-level crimes. New Mexico is generally moving away from bail bonds making these less and less favored by judges.
Ultimately, getting a bench warrant demands that you get a lawyer. A lawyer can file a motion to cancel the bench warrant. Such a motion can explain the situation and often give you a chance at avoiding a nasty process of arrest, processing, jail, waiting, transport, and then court. Having an attorney shows the Court that you respect the process and are using the correct methods to deal with the situation. Even in scenarios where arrest is inevitable, an attorney can negotiate the situation far more effectively and more generally protect you from the arrest involving a prejudicial statement or other evidentiary traps that can harm your case.
Being arrested on the warrant without benefit of counsel is more than a mere inconvenience. It can lead to an extremely precarious position for your case more generally. A court finding that you only answered the bench warrant upon arrest may be hesitant to let you our at all. And once you are in jail, it is much more difficult to prepare and fight your case. You may be appointed a lawyer without choice that does not fit with your style and preferences. The issuance of a bench warrant in a case is a critical juncture- how you deal with it may determine the outcome. And as with all critical junctures in criminal cases, exercising the right to counsel is the most appropriate and wise move.
