Criminal Court Subpoena as a witness

• that_guy

  In February my fiance was working in sales at a jewelry company, and one of the guys she sold to had used a stolen credit card. The next day the police showed up,and she gave information on the guy, what he bought etc. Then in May, she was subpoena'd to testify in front of the Grand Jury. We had a trip to visit her Dad in Palm Springs planned for the day she was to appear, so she called the attorney who told her that we needed to reschedule our trip, since she had to appear. This was easy enough, as we just moved the trip back a week (it cost us around $75 total in change fees, etc). Well, the morning she was scheduled to appear, they cancelled the hearing, which was annoying because we had rescheduled a trip for her to appear.
  
  Anyways, fast forward to now. We are getting married next Saturday. We have the honeymoon scheduled for the following week to Aruba. Today, in the mail, another subpoena came, and she's scheduled to testify on July 25 (smack in middle of the honeymoon). She's left a voicemail for the attorney, and is calling her parents lawyer for his advice, and I'm looking on google for answer's on this situation, but can't find much, so figured I'd ask here.
  
  Is there anyway she can get out of this? If we can't, what about all of the costs of cancelling/rebooking a trip to Aruba, etc?
• said_aouita

  

  What's the worse they can do if she does not show up? A night or three in the county clinker?
• Rotinaj

  

  Can't they have her come in and tape her testimony or something? I think I saw that on tv lol.
• Glory Days

  

  I find it hard to believe they would even need her. they should have enough evidence from the records of the sale etc to convict. the store probably even has the guy on camera. what is she gonna say "yeah, i saw him in the store and sold him that jewelry"?
• jmog

  Ask if she can be deposed (recorded) where both the defense and prosecutor get to question her before hand. I've seen it on TV , hope that helps.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  Invitations to court, especially grand jury, sound mandatory...good luck getting out of it though.
• that_guy

  Glory Days;1224954 wrote:I find it hard to believe they would even need her. they should have enough evidence from the records of the sale etc to convict. the store probably even has the guy on camera. what is she gonna say "yeah, i saw him in the store and sold him that jewelry"?

  Unfortunately the store's camera wasn't working (and hadn't been working for a few years- which seems pretty ridiculous to me for a jewelry store). The next day when she spoke to the investigating officer, she picked the guys picture out of a set of photos, was able to remember exactly what he bought, what he looked at and all of the details of the conversation she had with him while he was in the store.
  
  What sucks is the cost of the trip we would have to cancel is more than the amount of items this guy purchased with the stolen card. I'm sure I'd get some sort of refund for the plane tickets, but still know I'd be out some money if we'd need to reschedule the trip (and have no idea when we'll be able to find a week between now and sometime next year to go)...
• lhslep134

  

  jmog;1224958 wrote:Ask if she can be deposed (recorded) where both the defense and prosecutor get to question her before hand. I've seen it on TV , hope that helps.

  There's no defense during a grand jury. It's prosecution only.
  
  
  Like_that, lawyers reschedule sh*t all the time. See if it can get pushed back. You might be able to have a deposition for the prosecution though, I don't know the rules in Ohio. I know the courts out here in Arizona give just as much credence to a video deposition as actually appearing before the court because both require an oath.
• that_guy

  Actually, I just reread the subpoena, it's not for the Grand Jury, it's for the actual trial. That seems like it'll be even harder to get out of, ugh....
• jmog

  lhslep134;1225066 wrote:There's no defense during a grand jury. It's prosecution only.
  
  
  Like_that, lawyers reschedule sh*t all the time. See if it can get pushed back. You might be able to have a deposition for the prosecution though, I don't know the rules in Ohio. I know the courts out here in Arizona give just as much credence to a video deposition as actually appearing before the court because both require an oath.

  I know the difference between a grand jury and a trial, but since like_that said this new subpoena was for a trial I mad the assumption there would be a defense cross examinatin .
• that_guy

  jmog;1225079 wrote:I know the difference between a grand jury and a trial, but since like_that said this new subpoena was for a trial I mad the assumption there would be a defense cross examinatin .

  In my original email I mentioned a grand jury, so that caused the confusion. Just now reread the subpoena and realized it's not a grand jury...
  Also, I'm that_guy, not like_that, can see how the two user names can be interchangeable at a glance though...
• sej

  

  Contact the prosecuting attorney. It is likely they can get it continued if she is unavailable for something of that nature and she is a witness they truely need. The case may not even make it to trial anyway. Quite a few end with a plea right before trial.
• Ironman92

  

  This stuff is constantly getting rescheduled. They'll do it. No worries.
• dwccrew

  

  Screw it, go on your honeymoon. Don't put your life on hold for our shitty government/justice system.
• Glassy

  

  Here is what is going to happen:
  
  1st, you are going to reschedule your honeymoon. Secondly, the taxpayers are going to spend thousands of dollars on a trial which is probably way more than the fraudulent sale of the jewelry was even worth. The scumbag will get a court appointed attorney on our dime. Scumbag doesnt have any money so even if the Jewelry store wins, they will be able to get nothing out of him. Credit card company probably already gave the owner of the stolen card their money back from the fraud charge coverage.
  
  The court appointed attorney will talk the scumbag into a guilty plea before the trail starts, as your wife has already shown up to testify and you are anxiously waiting to go to Aruba and start knockin the boots.
  
  After the plea bargain, the scumbag will keep the $ from the stolen jewelry that he has already sold for cheap, but have a misdemeanor (plead down from a felony). Your wife will be home shortly before noon and you guys will be waiting several days before you can hop a flight to start knockin boots. Scumbag has a misdemeanor and the credit card company writes it off as a loss.
  
  Enjoy your honeymoon.
• derek bomar

  

  just don't show up - say you never got the mail that day
• THE4RINGZ

  

  Given your circumstances I am sure they will reschedule the trial or proceed without your wife.
• fan_from_texas

  As has been said above, call and reschedule. It's a bit unusual that they didn't contact a friendly witness to check availability beforehand--that's ALWAYS something we do, and it's unfathomable that they didn't. I very strongly suspect they'll be able to accomodate so the trip isn't skipped, especially given that you already rescheduled once for them.
• that_guy

  The assistant DA finally called back this morning, and said that they would reschedule it.
  
  I was getting nervous, because a cop had stopped by on Saturday to legally serve her the papers. I was thinking something along Glassy's scenario would happen...
• Mister Twister

  Just go on the honeymoon and stay in Aruba. I do not believe that they have an extradition agreement with the United States.