Failure to Appear for a NYC Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT)
It might not seem like the biggest deal for some, but appearing for a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) in New York is a serious situation. When you’re summoned to appear for a DAT, you must be present at the correct time, in the correct location, and you must not take this lightly. Failing to appear for a DAT results in a warrant for your arrest. What this means is you are going to be arrested anytime and anywhere a police officer finds you and realizes you have a warrant.
If you’re pulled over for driving without a tail light and an officer merely wants to warn you of the situation, you will be arrested if he runs your license and sees there is a bench warrant out for your arrest. If you book an airline ticket to leave the local airport to the Bahamas for your honeymoon, you will be arrested at security when your license is scanned. If you are arrested for anything else, you’ll be arrested and charged with failure to appear for DAT, too. It’s a serious crime, and being present for your DAT hearing is the only way to ensure this does not occur.
What if I can’t appear?
If you are issued a date and time for a DAT hearing, you must be present. If there is a situation that comes up preventing you from appearing, you must try and work through the situation beforehand. You cannot simply fail to appear in front of a judge when summoned and hope you can work through the misunderstanding later. Save for being involved in an accident, delayed getting home at an airport, or the occurrence of a natural disaster, there are very few things you cannot let the court know about ahead of time. Most of the time the court is willing to grant you an extension by rescheduling your DAT so you can be present.
Failing to show up is not an option. If you fail to show up without any notification, you will be issued a bench warrant and arrested the next time your license is used to identify you by a police officer. In addition to being issued a bench warrant, you’ll also have a criminal record and the warrant issued in your name will be on your record forever. A warrant in your name can affect your immigration status, your legal issues, and even your ability to apply for a job. You must notify the court if you simply cannot appear on the scheduled date.
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The best way to handle a problem of this magnitude is to handle it before it becomes a problem of this magnitude. If there is a DAT scheduled for you and you cannot be there on the date scheduled, call an attorney. With an attorney on your side, you are able to work through the situation with the attorney backing you up. With a valid reason, the attorney can contact the court and ask for a different DAT date, and it’s highly likely the court will provide you with this new date.
In some cases, your attorney can show up and be there for the DAT hearing on your behalf. This works if there is prior permission granted, but it might also work if there is a last-minute emergency and the court must be notified too late to change the date. For example, if you are pregnant and fail to appear because you went into labor, there is no reason the court cannot allow your attorney to stand in for you or even postpone your hearing until you’re released from the hospital since there’s very little control in a situation of this magnitude.
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Lead Attorney & Founder
Featured on Netflix's "Inventing Anna," Todd Spodek brings decades of high-stakes criminal defense experience. His aggressive approach has secured dismissals and acquittals in cases others deemed unwinnable.
You don’t know what might constitute a valid reason for missing a DAT until you call an attorney and work with them to discuss your options. If you run the risk of losing your job asking for time off for a court hearing, you could get it moved with the help of your attorney. If you’ll be traveling on the date of your appearance, your attorney might be able to get the date moved. Don’t just miss it. Call an attorney and get permission to miss or have it rescheduled.
You received a Desk Appearance Ticket after being arrested for petit larceny in Manhattan, but you missed your scheduled court date because you confused the courtroom location and showed up at the wrong courthouse. Now you've learned that a bench warrant has been issued for your arrest under New York Criminal Procedure Law § 150.60.
What happens now that I have a warrant for failing to appear on my DAT, and is there any way to resolve this without being arrested on the street?
Under CPL § 150.60, when you fail to appear on a Desk Appearance Ticket, the court is authorized to issue a bench warrant for your arrest, which means you could be picked up at any time during a traffic stop, background check, or routine police encounter. Your best course of action is to retain an attorney who can arrange a voluntary surrender at the courthouse, which demonstrates good faith to the judge and significantly improves your chances of having the warrant vacated without additional bail conditions. In many cases, we can file a motion to vacate the warrant and explain the circumstances of your missed appearance, especially when there was genuine confusion about the court location rather than intentional avoidance. Acting quickly is critical because the longer the warrant remains outstanding, the harder it becomes to convince the court that your failure to appear was not willful.
This is general information only. Contact us for advice specific to your situation.
Failing to appear is an automatic bench warrant for you, and being arrested for a bench warrant means spending at least one night in jail. It’s not a situation in which you want to find yourself in New York, which is why it’s time for you to call an attorney and rectify this situation before it’s a problem. Handling it in advance is always the wise decision when a court of law requires your presence for an official hearing.
