Changing my court date

Question

I need to change my court appearance for an "unlawful sale of alcohol to a minor" charge. I plan on pleading not guilty. I leave to go to school and work in Hawaii on the 14th of this month. I'm supposed to appear on the 19th of this month. I know they grant continuances for traffic tickets but i'm not sure about a charge like this? I live in IL if that helps at all. Will they ask for a reason to change the date or just grant one? Plus, I haven't had time to retain a lawyer bc the officer who charged me said the states attorney would get a hold of me in 72 hours or less. That was July 23rd. I called nearly every day to find out when my appearance was and they didn't have one for me. So now I'm in a bind...what do you think? will they give me one??

PS I know that if they dont' give me a change I will have to stay and appear. I'm 22 years old and have never been in any trouble like this before so i def don't need to end up in jail bc of not appearing. Its just going to make me miss my first week of classes plus cost more money for me since i'll have to push back my job at least a week. HELP!!

Answer 1

Call the Associate courts office and tell them what you need to do and ask them if you can get a continuance and if you need a lawyer..You will appear before a Associate judge for this offense.the Associate court sets up the court appearances for their judges.

Since this is a first offense If you did indeed sell liquor to a minor then plead guilty. Pay the fine and tell the judge you wont ever do it again. You wont go to jail for it but if you don't appear for court there will be a warrant sent out for your arrest for failing to appear. Then, you might go to jail. I worked in and around a judicial court house in Mo. for 8 years. I knew all the judges by first name and if theirs one thing they don't like is somebody trying to make them look stupid.

Answer 2

First off, you need to seriously chill out. "Unlawful sale of alcohol to a minor" charge is not going to get you sent to jail unless you totally p**s off the judge. You will most likely get the charge reduced to a city ordinance offense or something like that. Go to court. Plea "Not Guilty". Make sure you speak to the Prosecutor BEFORE the hearing, and I will bet 10 to 1 that they will offer you an easy plea for either money (meaning they will charge you with an expensive offense that doesn't go on your record) or give you 30 day's of Community Service and tell you not to do it again. If it is remotely serious, they will not let you represent yourself in court and assign you a defense attorney, which would push your court date out later. It's not like this is a weapons charge, or a violent crime. Just make sure you go to court before you get a bench warrant, or another one. They can also suspend your license if you don't show up. Everything will be fine, though. I did stupid things when I was 22 - nothing serious - and I never went to jail. Just be very respectful to the judge and the prosecutor and you will be fine - and make sure you wear a suit, or at least a nice outfit with a tie.

Answer 3

you need to get a lawyer so the lawywer can contact the court and arrange a court date and youll need one if your thinkin about winnig the case.