WTF

[J86]

http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_16320447

[hounddog]

"He was first cited in April and was arrested Aug. 14 for failing to appear in court. "

What exactly is the problem?

His vehicle was outside the requirements of their ordinance and was duly cited.

He failed to appear in court.

[J86]

da punishment dont fit da crime, mang.

Stuff like this lessens the respect people have for the law as a whole.

[hounddog]

What part of "Fail to appear in court" do you not understand?

He was issued an appearance ticket which requires, drum roll, he appear.

I can only speak for Michigan, but Fail to Appear = Contempt of Court.

[J86]

What part of "Fail to appear in court" do you not understand?

He was issued an appearance ticket which requires, drum roll, he appear.

I can only speak for Michigan, but Fail to Appear = Contempt of Court.

No need to get snarky.


"Barcon and his wife said they never received the violations. They also said city officials were unwilling to speak with them."

[hounddog]

Sorry, that was not my intent to be snarky.  

"He was first cited in April and was arrested Aug. 14 for failing to appear in court."

"He surrendered at the Sheriff's sub-station in"

"He surrendered at the Sheriff's sub-station in Walnut after deputies told his wife they had a warrant for him."

"City officials said the warrant wasn't issued until Barcon for months failed to repair or replace his tire."

All you really need to know about this case is above.  He was cited (given a ticket) with an appearance date, did not appear.
The judge issues a warrant for Fail to Appear (FTA = contempt of court), not the city.

The sheriff department being involved indicates, although thinly, the warrant based on FTA.

The judge most likely put the original charge, the junk vehicle ordinance violation, on the warrant with the FTA charge.

FTA is very common, people think, "What can they do if I just do not show up?" and then make a big deal when they get arrested.  There really is no news here, other than a lesson in personal responsibility.

[J86]

Understood, thanks!

I'm aware of all procedural/legal concerns that this raises- I work at a legal services firm while in law school and we have clients with this issue all the time.

I just put this out there as a rather extreme example.  While he's being prosecuted as to the letter of the law, just because something is the law doesn't mean it is right/just and should be left as is...

[hounddog]

I fail to see how that is so.

Junk vehicle ordinances are there to keep property values up, and in some extreme cases, public safety.

I would estimate that this man has been toying with the police for a long time, since writing a ticket for a flat tire would be a last resort.

Ordinance violations, at least in Michigan, are what are called "Municiple Civil Infractions" and do not carry criminal weight.  However, if you do not appear in court on a MCI (yeah, I know) then you open yourself to criminal charges, as this man did.

As I said before, the only article worthy part of this story is the abject lesson in personal responsibility. 

[bing_oh]

The headline is flat-out wrong. As Tony said, he was clearly arrested for Contempt of Court for failure to appear, not the original charge. I strongly suspect that, had he gone to court for the original charge, it would have been a minor violation resulting in perhaps a small fine.

The court has to have consequences to make people appear for their scheduled court dates or the entire system would fall apart. I mean, if you were issued a citation but there were no consequences if you didn't appear in court, then why would anyone go to court? That's absolutely right and just and should be left as is.

[Catman]

That's what happens when you don't take care of bidness.

[MaxPower]

in the prosecutor's office where i worked, if someone didn't show for court the judge would issue a warrant and set bail at whatever the fine amount would have been for a guilty plea.  worked well.

[Submariner]

Fucking crack dealers face lesser bail amounts.

[hounddog]

That is really the only problem I have with this case; the bond.

However, I would submit that he was likely allowed to post 10% cash or surety on that amount, since it is exorbitantly high considering the charge.

There could also be extenuating circumstances we are not privy to which the defense will obviously not volunteer such as threats to officers or city employees, or harsh words for the bench.

That is not to say this happened, but I would have to believe there are mitigating circumstances which would drive a judge to set bond so high.

We just do not have that information.

I just get the feeling this has been coming to a head for a long time.

However, as a reasonable person I have to admit, there is also the absolute possibility that this guy actually is being targeted. Hey, it does happen once in a while (even though it is unlikely, it could still be the case).  

[MX793]

OK, so he couldn't afford to buy a new tire.  Didn't the car have a spare in the trunk?

[NomisR]

From reading the article and my knowledge of the city.. the city and police seems to be making a big deal out of nothing.  That city is now one of the more well off areas of the San Gabriel Valley in LA County.. and there's plenty of OC type people that would complain over minor stuff.  

The guy did say he keeps adding air to it to keep it inflated, i'm not sure why he doesn't just get it patched or something but it seems like there's a leak in there.  The citation probably isn't entirely necessary to begin with.  

And the bail amount is way too much.. $30000 for not fixing the tires?  That's ridiculous.. there's no way the bail should be that high to begin with.  Since bail is set at the whatever the fine was for a guilty plea, no would could a fix it ticket fiine be $30000.  They added 2 to 3 extra zeros, maybe.. but $30000?  And you guys are ok with that??  

[NomisR]

What part of "Fail to appear in court" do you not understand?

He was issued an appearance ticket which requires, drum roll, he appear.

I can only speak for Michigan, but Fail to Appear = Contempt of Court.

You realize if he went to court, and since he didn't fix the tire, he would have to plead guilty.. and then he would have to pay a $30,000 fine??  That's extortion..

[hounddog]

From reading the article and my knowledge of the city.. the city and police seems to be making a big deal out of nothing.  That city is now one of the more well off areas of the San Gabriel Valley in LA County.. and there's plenty of OC type people that would complain over minor stuff.  

The guy did say he keeps adding air to it to keep it inflated, i'm not sure why he doesn't just get it patched or something but it seems like there's a leak in there.  The citation probably isn't entirely necessary to begin with.  

And the bail amount is way too much.. $30000 for not fixing the tires?  That's ridiculous.. there's no way the bail should be that high to begin with.  Since bail is set at the whatever the fine was for a guilty plea, no would could a fix it ticket fiine be $30000.  They added 2 to 3 extra zeros, maybe.. but $30000?  And you guys are ok with that??  

You have no information to base any of your opinions upon, the entire article was shaded in his favor.

And, you might wish to have some basis of knowledge with regards to charging and bond before making left-field type posts.  

You realize if he went to court, and since he didn't fix the tire, he would have to plead guilty.. and then he would have to pay a $30,000 fine??  That's extortion..

Try not to be so obtuse.

Again, he was not arrested on a "Flat tire ticket" as evidenced by the fact he was arrested on "Fail to Appear."  

Beyond that, it did not happen therefore; your post is nothing more than fanciful supposition.

[TurboDan]

This was a stupidly-headlined article. He wasn't arrested for having a flat tire. He was arrested for failure to appear, which is legit. Of course, around here, if you're arrested on a bench warrant you have the option to pay whatever fine you faced at the local station and avoid being remanded and having to post bail in the first place.

[dazzleman]

This was a stupidly-headlined article. He wasn't arrested for having a flat tire. He was arrested for failure to appear, which is legit. Of course, around here, if you're arrested on a bench warrant you have the option to pay whatever fine you faced at the local station and avoid being remanded and having to post bail in the first place.

Slanted articles like that, which seem to deliberately mislead, are a big part of why so many people hold the media in total contempt.