Failure to Appear in Tennessee
Several months ago, this site ran a blog that discussed failure to appear in Tennessee and some of the possible penalties. What that blog article did not do, however, was include the statutory language of the failure to appear statute, T.C.A. 39-16-609, so that potential defendants who are perusing this blog may familiarize themselves with the actual elements. The statute defines failure to appear as follows:
(a) It is unlawful for any person to knowingly fail to appear as directed by a lawful authority if the person:(1) Has been lawfully issued a criminal summons pursuant to § 40-6-215;
(2) Has been lawfully commanded to appear for booking and processing pursuant to a criminal summons issued in accordance with § 40-6-215;
(3) Has been lawfully issued a citation in lieu of arrest under § 40-7-118;
(4) Has been lawfully released from custody, with or without bail, on condition of subsequent appearance at an official proceeding or penal institution at a specified time or place; or
(5) Knowingly goes into hiding to avoid prosecution or court appearance.
Notice, then, that it is a defense to a charge of evading arrest that a person was not directed by a lawful authority (such as the court) to appear. Other defenses also exist under the statute:
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that:(1) The appearance is required by a probation and parole officer as an incident of probation or parole supervision; or
(2) The person had a reasonable excuse for failure to appear at the specified time and place.
What constitutes a “reasonable excuse” for missing a mandatory appearance is largely left to the discretion of the court, but one generally must have some sort of legitimate transportation issue or medical or family emergency in order to miss a mandatory appearance without consequence. Failure to appear on a class B or C misdemeanor is a misdemeanor offense, while failure to appear on a class A misdemeanor or felony is a felony offense. Any sentence imposed for a failure to appear can also run consecutively to any sentence imposed for the actual offense with which the person was charged.
Hired experienced criminal defense counsel can assist defendants greatly by notifying them when an appearance is mandatory and helping to ensure that no mandatory appearance is missed. Further, an attorney can notify the court when a defendant cannot make a scheduled appearance and can work to convince the court that any such absence is reasonable. Tennessee criminal defendants should make sure that their case is placed in the hands of competent and responsible criminal defense counsel.
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