July 4th, 2009
I live in state indiana in West Lafayette. I was recently charged for
reckless driving. I paper I got has inforamtion of reckless driving
I.C. 9-21-8-52(a)(b) (Class B Misdemeanor) and I did the part (a). I
went to the court and I was judged to do community service for 40
hours. My driver license wasn't suspended. Since I'm student and I'm
pretty busy this semester so my question is that is there a way that I
just need to pay a fine without doing community service? What if I
just ignore the community service? Are they going to arrest and put me
in jail?Dear kuzuryuusen-ga;
Thank you for allowing me an opportunity to answer your interesting
question. The law in Indiana is similar to the laws in my own state
where, incidentally, I am a 20 plus year member of law enforcement.
Unfortunately, while a fine (sometimes referred to as a ?forfeit?)
might very well have been an option for you during the hearing or
negotiation (plea bargain) process, once the case is adjudicated there
is nothing one can reasonably expect to do other than abide by the
order of the court in the manner directed by the judge. To fail to do
so places you at risk of additional charges up to and including
possible imprisonment:
INDIANA CODE 34-47-3-1 DISOBEDIENCE OF PROCESS
?IC 34-47-3-1Disobedience of process
Sec. 1. A person who is guilty of any willful disobedience of any
process, or any order lawfully issued:(1) by any court of record, or
by the proper officer of the court;(2) under the authority of law, or
the direction of the court; and (3) after the process or order has
been served upon the person; is guilty of an indirect contempt of the
court that issued the processor order.?
PDF VERSION
http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title34/ar47/ch3.pdf
TEXT VERSION
http://www.state.in.us/search?q=cache:nFDEjwdoees:http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title34/ar47/ch3.pdf+contempt+court&client=in-gov&output=xml_no_dtd&proxystylesheet=in-gov&site=in-gov
If you fail to do the community service, will they put you in jail?
The chances of that are quite good. Community service is normally
considered an alternative punishment in lieu of jail time. Community
service is also conditional, meaning that the court will monitor your
progress and if the task is not completed you can be summoned back to
court to answer for this offense as well. If you fail to complete the
community service or ignore the order altogether, the probability is
high that the judge, on reviewing your contempt of court, could
rescind your original sentence and impose jail time. In fact, you may
also face additional time and additional fines for contempt of court;
over and above the fines and jail time you might receive for the
original offense of reckless driving. Where is this law? In Indiana
Code 34-47-3-5 (Note that the term ?reattached? below means to
physically be taken into custody. If there?s any doubt about what that
means, it means JAIL):
INDIANA CODE 34-47-3-5 SERVICE OF RULE UPON DEFENDANT; PROCEDURE
?IC 34-47-3-5 Service of rule upon defendant; procedure
Sec. 5. (a) In all cases of indirect contempts, the person charged
with indirect contempt is entitled:(1) before answering the charge;
or(2) being punished for the contempt; to be served with a rule of the
court against which the contempt was alleged to have been
committed.(b) The rule to show cause must:(1) clearly and distinctly
set forth the facts that are alleged to constitute the contempt;(2)
specify the time and place of the facts with reasonable certainty, as
to inform the defendant of the nature and circumstances of the charge
against the defendant; and(3) specify a time and place at which the
defendant is required to show cause, in the court, why the defendant
should not reattached and punished for such contempt.(c) The court
shall, on proper showing, extend the time provided under subsection
(b)(3) to give the defendant a reasonable and just opportunity to be
purged of the contempt.(d) A rule provided for under subsection (b)
may not issue until the facts alleged to constitute the contempt have
been:(1) brought to the knowledge of the court by an information;
and(2) duly verified by the oath of affirmation of some officers of
the court or other responsible person.?
Avoiding the community service is a BAD idea.
I hope you find that my research exceeds your expectations. If you
have any questions about my research please post a clarification
request prior to rating the answer. Otherwise, I welcome your rating
and your final comments and I look forward to working with you again
in the near future. Thank you for bringing your question to us.
Best regards;
Tutuzdad ? Google Answers Researcher
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Law
Contempt of courtFirst of all, thanks for your very detail answer.
Qutoe:"once the case is adjudicated there is nothing one can
reasonably expect to do other than abide by the order of the court in
the manner directed by the judge"
Is there a way to appeal or bring the case to the court again?An appeal is sometign you really need to talk to a lawyer about. You
may also be able to get some information about the appeals process the
Court Clerk's office.
Keep in mind that there is some risk with an appeal. In a second
conviction the appeal court could either uphold, reduce or enhance the
punishment. If you are re-convicted the the judge sees fit to impose a
harsher sentence, you could theoretically find yourself in jail
instead of serving a relatively brief period of community service.
Typically a court assigns community service to a probation officer or
some other officer of the court who may be willing to work with you on
what your service might consist of. Some courts have people picking up
trash on the side of the road while others assign them tasks like
clelrical duties in goverment offices. I've even known some people to
serve their community service by doing duties in a community
recreation center, convalescent home, or homeless shelter and as it
turned out the experience was actually quite rewarding in other ways
beyond paying the debt to society. Call the Court Clerk and find out
who is in charge of community service. Then call that person and see
if you can arrange something that is convenient and also satisfactory
in the eyes of the court. Do yourself a favor and have a humble
attitude when you make the call. This will go a long way toward
getting an assignment that is workable for you.
Regards;
tutuzdad-ga#If you have any other info about this subject , Please add it free.# |
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