Can a witness who fails to appear be arrested?
Posted By Lloyd Golburgh on Aug 29, 2009 1:42pm PDT
"Scared Witness" asked: My daughter was subpoened to testify against someone in an assault
case. She was not present at the time of the assault but received a
phone call from one of the attackers who told her what they had done.
She has been threatened and is terrified to testify. If she does not
show up for court, would she be arrested or fined?
"FloridaDUIPRO.com" answered: there are two answers to this question: the legal answer and the
practical one. the legal answer is, "yes." your daughter can be dragged
into court and be subjected to criminal contempt for failing to comply
with a subpoena. the practical answer is, "no." usually, witnesses and
victims don't get harassed by the state attorney's office, especially
when they are legitimately afraid.