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JP Court Question

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https://tdcaa.infopop.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/157098965/m/9381016012

October 06, 2010, 13:52
MM
JP Court Question
Okay, I'm looking for some advice and opinions here.

One of our JPs has been auditing, for lack of a better word, pending cases with an outstanding warrant. As it turns out there are quite a lot of them, with some going back into the '90's.

During their review they have discovered that many of them do not have a complaint. Thus my question, do they all have to be dismissed since the statue of limitations has run for filing a complaint?

He's what I've found so if anybody has anything to add I'd love to hear it.

CCP 27.14(d) says the ticket can serve as the complaint for purposes of entering a plea. So if they enter a plea of guilty or nolo it should be okay. If they enter a plea of not guilty and don't object to the absence of a complaint before the trial, it's waived (44.181).

With the OMNI system many of these would come up when they try and renew their DL. So if we let it ride some would just pay it. But, it they pled not guilty do I have a duty to inform them that there is no complaint on file? If they retain counsel I think I would have to dismiss the case.

So my dilemma, what is the right thing to do? Try and get as many as possible to pay knowing some will have to be dismissed or just dismiss the lot of them? Any thoughts?