Miami Warrants Lawyer, Alias Capias & Bench Warrant Attorney
If you or a loved one has a Florida warrant out for your arrest, it is critical to consult with an experienced Miami warrants lawyer as soon as possible to ensure that your rights are protected. You need the legal advice of a warrant attorney in Miami with years of experience dealing with bench warrants, alias capiases, misdemeanor warrants, and other types of arrest warrants. You need a knowledgeable experienced criminal defense attorney to guide you through the process and maximize your chances of resolving your warrant with a favorable outcome.
Different Types of Warrants
The purpose of a warrant is to allow law enforcement to execute or perform some act that has been authorized in writing by a judge. The authorization is usually to arrest an individual or to conduct a search. Although arrest warrants can be issued for various reasons, they all share one thing in common: a judge’s order to arrest a defendant and bring him or her before the court. Both arrest warrants and search warrants exist in both state and federal criminal cases.
Arrest Warrant
Although most felony state prosecutions begin with a law enforcement officer arresting the defendant based on probable cause that the person committed a crime, some cases begin with an arrest warrant. According to Florida Statute 901.02, this type of Florida arrest warrant can only be issued by a judge after reviewing a warrant application by a law enforcement officer. The police officer seeking the warrant submits the warrant application along with an affidavit laying out the facts the officer believes support a judge’s finding of probable cause for the criminal charges. If the judge believes the facts alleged in the affidavit constitute probable cause, he or she will sign off on the warrant giving the law enforcement officer the legal authority to execute the warrant by arresting the defendant and bringing him or her before the court. More specific details can be included in a warrant for an individual’s arrest, such as a specified date range during which the individual may be arrested, the bail amount required by law for releasing the individual from custody, and whether or not the individual must post bail to leave custody.
Alias Capias
Another type of felony arrest warrant, called an alias capias, can be issued in a few different ways. A judge can issue an alias capias for failure to appear when a defendant fails to meet his or her requirement to appear in court. The judge can also issue an alias capias for the defendant’s arrest for violating a condition(s) of pretrial release or bond. If the court has issued an alias capias warrant for your arrest because you failed to appear in court, a criminal defense lawyer may be able to place the case on the calendar and ask the judge to quash the warrant.
Under Florida law, the clerk’s office can also issue an alias capias for a defendant’s arrest when the State Attorney‘s Office files an information charging the defendant with a criminal offense, or the grand jury returns an indictment against the defendant.
Bench Warrant
A bench warrant is a warrant for failure to appear in court issued by a judge in a misdemeanor case. This type of warrant can have a bond amount set on the actual warrant, which enables the defendant to post bail without having to go in front of a judge. Most of the time, the person who failed to appear was already out on bail at the time of their non-appearance. Consequently, the judge usually sets a higher bail amount.
A judge can also issue a probation warrant for a violation of probation after a probation officer submits an affidavit of violation to the court alleging that the defendant has failed to comply with conditions of probation or community control. The judge also has the option of setting the matter for a court hearing instead of issuing a criminal warrant.
Extradition Warrant (Fugitive Warrant)
If a suspect flees from one jurisdiction to another after committing a crime, the original jurisdiction can request that the new jurisdiction extradite the suspect back to the original jurisdiction with an extradition warrant. This is sometimes referred to as a fugitive warrant. There are two types of extradition warrants. The first is when one state issues a warrant to another state to return a suspect to their state. The second type is international extradition—when one country is requesting the return of a suspect from another country.
Search Warrant
Another type of is a . Unlike other types of warrants, a is not an order to a specific person but rather an authorization required by the of the U.S. Constitution if police officers want to search a specific location for evidence of a .
As stated above, the warrants may have different names, but they all boil down to a judge’s order to have you arrested.