Flying to the US with a misdemeanor DUI warrant
 

Good evening all.

Bit of a strange situation here that I'm in need of some advice with.

I was arrested on a DUI whilst in NM (I'm from the UK) on a work trip a couple of years ago. After an eternity I was emailed by my solicitor to say the case was done and dusted and as long as I wasn't re arrested in the next 12 months on a 2nd DUI (highly unlikely as I will not be visiting the US any time soon) then everything would be finished with. I have subsequently found out that I have a bench warrant set for my arrest for failing to complete my mandatory community service (which I was completely unaware of).

How will this effect any future travel to the US? If I was to fly to NY for example would I a. Be able to get into the country and b. would I be arrested and extradited back to NM?

I realise my attorney would be the best person to ask but I am having issues getting hold of him!

Thank you in advance for your advice

Regards

Welcome to FlyerTalk! :) I wish you were here under better circumstances.

This thread really belongs in the Practical Advice forum for replies, and I've alerted this to be moved (no worries to the OP, they way the forum is organized it's not obvious at times).

If your attorney didn't inform you of all aspects of your case (ie community service), and you can't get in touch with him, I'd suggest you might want to find a new attorney.

Yeah, that's a pretty bad attorney.

Write the Prosecutor's office explain it along with a copy of the deferment, and offer to pay a fine.

Next time find a decent Lawyer,

I have a fine and jail time in Canada for running a stop sign, not too worried.

They did send me a letter 20 years ago

Write the District Attorney's office and explain in detail what you were told and that your intent wasn't to violate any part of getting past the situation. As you have no intention of any immediate trips ask for time served or offer to pay a fine or perform a service in the UK. If you enter into the US at any point of entry you will most likely be flagged. It's up to the DA's office if it's worth their money and time to have you extradited. It sounds like this was awhile ago & not a very seriously situation (the community service not the DUI) so I'm doubting they would spend the money and time to have you sent back.

You will be flagged if you attempt to enter the US, and you may be detained until the NM authorities decide whether to pay for your extradition. For community service, they likely won't, so I am guessing that you will be permitted to enter the country, although there may be some hassle/delay.

May I ask how you "subsequently found out" about the warrant? Who informed you of this? Is your attorney a public defender or a private lawyer?

Ask for reinstatement, explaining that you were not properly
advised by your attorney.
Explain that you would be willing to do community service abroad.
If they say no, they look pretty silly. But get it in writing.
If they do catch you, you'll get much more time than you expect;
they'll treat you like an absconder and it won't be fun. You could
do 30 days. So make it clear you really want to work it out.

Cheers for the advice guys. I was planning on writing to the DA already offering to sort it out, so this has pretty much cemented this plan of attack.

When I was arrested for the DUI I literally had 24 hours to find an attorney before leaving the country and the guy I went with seemed really good!

I found out about the warrant as I found the court website and was reading the details about my case. To say it was a surprise was an under statement.

NM doesn't mess around with DUIs. There's a huge alcoholism and drinking + driving problem in the state. I certainly wouldn't bet on them not extraditing.

Next time you'd Better Call Saul.

1. Do not take your legal advice from anonymous websites.

2. Get a new attorney.

3. Do not communicate with the prosecutor's office or any other agency of government other than through your attorney. See #2.

4. Not everything is explained away just because you say something from however many thousand miles away.

5. An active warrant for your arrest will almost certainly cause you to be excluded from the US. It may also cause you to be excluded from other countries which share data with the US. It will also likely cause you to be taken into custody at least temporarily.

In short, it's important to get this cleaned up promptly, but correctly.

This.

There's a saying among lawyers - "Any attorney representing himself has a fool for a client."

Agreed.
Not sure about the exclusion bit, but certainly when your passport is run on arrival you are likely, at the very least, to get put in secondary for a while, and possibly detained until the NM authorities decide whether they want to pay for you to be hauled over there.
Also agreed.

There's a saying among lawyers - "Any attorney representing himself has a fool for a client."


There's also a saying among people--"Lawyers suck ...."
If the attorney who screwed this up can't fix this, do you
really think some other shyster is going to be able to clean up his mess?