Um yeah, you spoke with a clerk? Or the judge's bailiff? Because what you're telling here is tantamount to giving legal advice, which a clerk is not permitted to give and a bailiff can give only with the express authorization of the judge presiding over the case. She/he can give information (such as yeah, two others are subpoenaed to testify) and tell you stuff like "this is what typically happens" (if s/he has prior approval to give out that type of information as a general rule) but taking the advice of someone not permitted or trained to give that advice could lead so not-so-good things happening. Granted, that is what MIGHT or PROBABLY will happen, but unless she is a/the person to tell you "absolutely, positively you won't get in trouble for ignoring a court order/court-issued subpoena or summons" then you really probably should obey the summons, and then get disgusted at the fact that you wasted your time appearing for a hearing or trial that you didn't need to attend rather than risking getting in trouble for not appearing at a hearing or trial where you should be in attendance.
Just sayin', but yeah, I didn't get the backstory either so take it for what it's worth.
I can't imagine ignoring a subpoena based on the advice of anyone except an attorney associated w/ the trial. And only if I was "released" in writing.
Seriously, just go. It is one day of your life, and not going could end up being a MUCH bigger p.i.t.a than missing one day of work to zone out at the court house.
i'm just so flummoxed by all of this i'm a textspeak valley girl.
is this muppet court? wtf court anywhere on earth is like "we totes asked three people to show up with our super special nonmandatory subpoenas, so if you don't that's cool cuz maybe no one will! and then, you know, we just throw the case out. like if you forget to return something to banana republic within 90 days."
and i'm still so perplexed about your absolute certainty that this is somehow immigration related and if you do show up and say "yeah, that's the guy who hit the other guy" a SWAT team of IMS officers will swoop in and carry him out mafia-style to a waiting helicopter for deportation.
I don't get why you are making such a big deal out of this. Just go. If he was a drunken illegal you'd be there with a pitchfork in hand (gold plated, of course).
i'm just so flummoxed by all of this i'm a textspeak valley girl.
is this muppet court? wtf court anywhere on earth is like "we totes asked three people to show up with our super special nonmandatory subpoenas, so if you don't that's cool cuz maybe no one will! and then, you know, we just throw the case out. like if you forget to return something to banana republic within 90 days."
and i'm still so perplexed about your absolute certainty that this is somehow immigration related and if you do show up and say "yeah, that's the guy who hit the other guy" a SWAT team of IMS officers will swoop in and carry him out mafia-style to a waiting helicopter for deportation.
I got subpoenaed for court when a guy hit me and I was not at fault. He tried to fight it and represented himself and it was GLORIOUSLY terrible.
I had to attend. Not optional at all, even though it was the state v. dude.
He acted as his own lawyer and they made me take the stand. It was hilarious. And annoying because he went on forever, didn't know the law, argued with the judge. Didn't understand how to act as a lawyer, etc.
I did get paid $5 for being a witness, lol.
It was NOT optional to attend.
Ooh did you post about this? This sounds hilariously familiar...
Look, they they sent you a subpoena, not an evite.
HA HA HA HA! So true.
Look, if subpoenas were optional, I'd rarely get witnesses to court. That's the entire point of a subpoena - to make the witness attend. Some random person who answers the phone in the clerk's office or wherever you called cannot give you legal advice. Unless on the face of the subpoena it spells out that attendance is voluntary, your own lawyer reviews the subpoena tells you that you do not need to attend, or the attorney who issued the subpoena (not some secretary in his office, but the actual lawyer speaks to you) says you do not need to be there, there is no way I would choose to just not show up.
Look Verona, I'm a prosecutor and I promise you random court clerks don't have the authority to determine who is or isn't a necessary witness in 'State v.' case. And if some clerk did call off my witness, he or she would be getting an earful from their supervisor, whom I'd report them to. So in trying to avoid testifying, not only are putting yourself at risk of having a warrant issued, you are also potentially setting this random court clerk to get a bad work performance evaluation. And this is all to protect a guy who allegedly committed a crime? Really?! What if the other witnesses who supposedly could testify to the same effect take your attitude and don't show up either? What of someone else's testimony requires additional information that you might have? There's no way three court clerk can make that assessment with any certainty.
FFS go to court and talk to the actual lawyer handling the goddamn case.
I don't think what she has is actually a supoena. I know nothing about any of this, but that's my general assumption.
i'm here.
like the time my mom kept calling me for tips on how to handle her deposition, and really she was just being called for an untranscribed witness statement. and my mom is an intelligent woman. the words just mean different things.
This is pretty common in Houston (for sure, maybe all of TX) for motor vehicle accidents. Were you actually served or did you get the summons by mail? This happened to a coworker in Houston. He went. I think the driver didn't show.
I would still show. I think the whole event took 20 minutes.
I don't get why you are making such a big deal out of this. Just go. If he was a drunken illegal you'd be there with a pitchfork in hand (gold plated, of course).