How Long Is That Warrant Going To Be Outstanding?

Q. I was wondering what the statute of limitations is on a Misdemeanor "writing a bad check" outstanding warrant from the state of New Jersey?

A. I just want to make sure I've got the question right. As I understand it, your question isn't about the statute on the offense of writing a bad check itself, but on a warrant issued for writing a bad check. By that, I assume you mean that you were either charged with or arrested for writing a bad check and failed to appear in court when they told you do. Needless to say, this is not a good thing. Judges tend to like it when you show up when you're supposed to, and they tend to get ticked off if you don't. As a result, when you decided not to show up, the judge probably issued a bench warrant for your arrest, and I'm guessing that this is what you're really asking me about.

As a general rule, a bench warrant does not expire. A judge ordinarily has to vacate it to make it go away. Once issued, the warrant get entered into the state's computers, and, usually, into the national database. That's what the cops are checking when they pull you over, by the way. Even before they step out of the car after they stop you, they've already run your license plate to see who owns the car and if the owner has any outstanding warrants. An outstanding warrant, even when you're pulled over for a traffic violation, by itself, is enough to hold you overnight until you can post bail on the warrant. Now, the court that issued the warrant will probably not try to actively enforce the warrant by looking for you, but it's in the system, and it's bound to catch up with you.

There's no way to know if the warrant will ever rise up and bite you in the butt. It might not show up, ever, or it could pop up when the police come to investigate the little fender-bender at the light, where someone hits you from behind. To me, it's not worth living with that kind of pressure hanging over your head.

You say it's a "misdemeanor" bad check. By that, I assume that you mean it is for a minimal amount, something under $200. Your best bet might be to contact the prosecutor in the town where the offense took place and work out a deal to pay the fine, pay off the check, and enter a plea in conjunction with vacating the warrant.

By the way, if you're really asking about when the statute expires for prosecuting the underlying charge for writing a bad check, your failure to appear essentially stops the clock from running on the time within which the State must prosecute you. Pretending it didn't happen doesn't make it go away; it just delays the inevitable.


Finally, if you have any doubts about your ability to handle this on your own, I urge you to contact an attorney and set out the facts for him or her. He or she may be able to help you resolve the matter with minimal exposure to fines and jail-time (depending on the amount of the check, and the length of time the
warrant has been outstanding.)

Good luck.

David Kendall

That "Million Dollar Suit" That Nobody Will Take

Q. I work for the post office and I have a case of discrimination that in the private sector would be worth millions. Why can't I find any lawyer that would take this case without a very large retainer? This case, in my opinion, would be very easy to win.


A. Um....dude, you've got to give me a little more than that. I can come up with answers on just about any topic, but you've got to give me something to work with. Discrimination in the post office -- that's just not enough. Did they discriminate against you because you're black? White? Old? Young? A Woman? A Muslim? A member of the NRA? These little details matter.

And you say the lawyers won't take it without a retainer? So I'm guessing they will take it if you pay them a retainer. Let's think about that for a moment; you're wondering why an attorney, who's got nothing to sell but his time and advice, wants some money from you before he or she takes the case? (If you don't get it yet, read that last sentence again until you do. Seriously.)

In some cases, attorneys do take cases on a contingency basis. Those are usually personal injury cases, with documented, objective injuries that usually lead to guaranteed paydays. Discrimination cases are a different animal, no matter what kind of discrimination is alleged. You never know what can happen because juries are notoriously unpredictable; no one can truly predict what they are going to do. You can make an educated guess, but you can never know. That's why an attorney will ask for a retainer -- no one wants to spend a lot of time, effort, and money on a case that may or may not be a winner.

You may believe your case is a winner -- but an experienced attorney may have a better feel for how the case will play before a jury (or if it will play at all.) Without knowing anything more about your case than what you've told me, I'd trust the opinions of the attorneys you've already consulted: you may have a case, but it'll cost you a retainer to prosecute it.

Good luck.

David Kendall

Doctor, Doctor, Give Me The News...

Q. I have hypothyroidism and take synthroid. In November I
refilled my Rx and have unknowingly been taking the wrong dose for 8 months. I have been back to my doc 3 times since Nov. complaining of hair loss, weight gain (40lbs!)fatigue, memory loss, facial swelling. He did not check my TSH level,instead put me on Prozac. Finally yesterday he had my TSH level done, it was 64.25 (norm 5.4) I am supposed to be on 0.20mg of synthroid but the pharmacist gave me 0.025mg. When confronted with this he said my Dr. wrote the Rx wrong and they do not make a dose of 0.20mg he said he called and my doc said to give me the 0.025 dose. My doc denies this because this is a significant difference in dosage. All I know is I feel terrible, have missed alot of work, lost alot of hair and have alot of weight to lose just because someone gave me the wrong dose of medicine! The long term effects could be liver damage but is not known yet. Do I need a lawyer?


A. Not yet, but maybe down the road. Right now, we're at the common-sense, "let's look into this" stage. Find out from the doctor exactly what he prescribed. Make sure you get all of the deatils about name of drug, size of dose, and so on. Then, get one of your prescription bottles and see what's written on it. Someone made a mistake; it should be correctable. (Obviously, there's a huge difference between .20 and .025 -- you've got to find out what the doctor originally prescribed as the actual dosage for the prescription -- and what should have been prescribed -- to determine where the mistake was.)

You might also consider seeking a second medical opinion, just to confirm what's going on, and what options you have. A full check up, and explanation from an independent second doctor might help clear things up in your mind and put you a little more at ease.

Either way, once you've figured out who was actually in the wrong (if anyone was), you've got to plan your next step. Figure out if there's some permanent damage or loss as a result of the mistake. For instance, if the pharmacy was at fault, and you're out of pocket several thousand dollars for the "wrong" prescription, ask them to reimburse you, or credit you. On the other hand, if there is no permanent damage or loss to you, you might consider asking for an apology for the error, and then letting by-gones be by-gones.

If it turns out that you can't reach a satisfactory resolution on your own, then you can consider bringing in a lawyer. You can get a referral from your local bar
association, or from the Martindale-Hubbel directory.

Good luck.

David Kendall

Family Feud -- No, Really

Q. My family has been friends with another family now for many years. A family dispute sent the son of that family fleeing in our direction. Instead of leaving this 18 year old boy to live in his truck with everything that he owns, my father allowed him to stay here until his family worked things out. The day that he told his mother that he was leaving, his family went into an outrage and told my mother and father that they would pay for taking away their son and grandson. The next day they had their wills changed to take him off. Now they are threatening to sue my mother and father because we wouldn't allow this boy to live in his truck or on the streets until they had a chance to work things out. They say that we took him away and now we will pay. He is 18 and we were just being helpful until they worked out their family problems. Can they really do that?

A. Let me make sure I've got this straight. Your neighbors' 18-year-old son is now living with your parents (and you) in your parents' house, and the neighbors are upset. Well, the simple answer is this: Ain't nothing wrong with that. The son is 18. He can live on Mars, if he can get there and, as long as it's okay with your parents, there's nothing illegal, inequitable, immoral or . . . well, it's ok that he does that.

That doesn't mean there won't be complications. I'm assuming that this was just a normal family squabble between the neighbors and their son. If he's 18, he can move out of the house and pretty much do whatever he wants to do and they can't really stop him. (Of course, they can cut him off financially, put his stuff out on the curb, refuse to speak to him, change the locks, not invite him for Thanksgiving, and apply a heavy coating of parental guilt over everything, but that's an entirely different set of family issues.)

Then, there's the emotional devastation that accompanies this family fights. Those hard feelings may spill over into your family as well, and it seems that your neighbors intend to make sure that happens. Nevertheless, there really isn't a valid "cause of action" that I can think of that your neighbors could assert against your parents for putting their son up. Even if they filed something in court, they can't show how they have been damaged by your parents putting their son up and, in
order to win in a lawsuit, you've got to show some kind of monetary, physical, or property damage. Of course, having handled family matters in my time, I know that the emotions tend to run very high, and people sometimes do crazy things -- like file a frivolous lawsuit -- even if they cannot possibly win in the long run.

The biggest casualty of this will likely be the relationship between your parents and the neighbors. Families tend to make up; friends and neighbors don't always do that. If your parents are (or were) close with the neighbors, the neighbors may hold a grudge that they might never release, blaming your parents for "coming between them," even though your folks merely offered their son a safe harbor. As I said, people have crazy, irrational reactions when emotions are involved. I do commend your folks for taking the son in; I personally believe that you should always try to help out in situations like this. I'm hopeful the neighbors will appreciate this good deed somewhere down the road.

Good luck.

David Kendall

Can I Get A New Snowmobile Out of This?

Q. About 2 and a half years ago, I (a small engine mechanic) was asked to find out why a snowmobile wouldn't run and to give an estimate of what it would take to fix it to running condition. After having done so, the owner of the snowmobile said he would get back to me. After 2.5 years and many phone calls (with MANY excuses) I still have the snowmobile and no payment for the work I performed. Do I legally own the snowmobile after all this time? Should I take him to small claims court to either get payment or the title to the snowmobile?


A. The short answer is, "No, you don't own the snowmobile, and yes, you should take him to small claims court." I could just leave it at that, but I figure you want a little more, so here's the explanation:

You state that you were originally asked to give an estimate as to what it would take to get the snowmobile running again. I'm guessing that you figured out what it was and then went ahead and fixed it. I'll also assume that you had authority from the owner to do the work, because if you didn't, my answers will change. After all, you can't go ahead and do work and charge someone for it if they didn't want it to begin with. But, assuming you had an agreement to do the work and to be paid for it, you can collect from your customer. Your local courthouse should be able to give you details about bringing your claim.

As to "owning" the snowmobile, the law doesn't work that way for personal property like this. You have what we lawyers like to call a "bailment." You are holding property for the true owner. Generally, you have to take care of it for a reasonable time and can't simply throw it away. In fact, most states have specific
statutes designed to deal with bailments and, depending on your state, it is possible (although unlikely) that, after two-and-one-half years, you may be able to assert some ownership rights. In addition, you can most likely assert a "mechanic's lien" on the snowmobile for at least the cost of the repairs and, in most cases, you are not obligated to release the snowmobile until your bill is paid.

Now, check this out. Here is how you may be able to assert an ownership interest in the snowmobile. I'm assuming you own a shop, and that you've stored the snowmobile for all this time. I'm betting you have a storage policy, right? $10 a day to store, or something like that? There's your answer. You could send a friendly reminder to the snowmobile owner (certified mail, to prove delivery), reminding him of your bill and your storage policy. State that you will have to file suit if he doesn't pay up. Then, if he doesn't pay, after you file suit in small claims court, and the judge gets involved, you could suggest that you'll take the snowmobile instead of any money for the repairs and storage charges that have accumulated. I wouldn't try this tactic on your own, without the judge being involved, but it certainly presents a possible resolution that may be workable for everyone.

Good luck.