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You can violate your probation in one of two ways. First you can
have a substantive violation. That means you have committed a new
offense. Second, you can have a technical violation. Common
technical violations are failure to report and failure to pay your
fine.
If your
probation officer issues a warrant, you will be arrested and held in
jail until your probation revocation hearing.
Usually you do not have right to appointed counsel. If you want a
lawyer, you'll have to hire one.
The probation revocation hearing must be conducted at the earliest
possible date. The appellate courts have said that a hearing held
within 30 days satisfies this requirement. To enforce this right,
you better hire a lawyer.
Guilt or innocence at a revocation hearing is not at issue (you've
already been convicted). The judge just has to determine if you
willfully violated your probation. Courtroom rules and procedures
must be followed (e.g. hearsay testimony is not allowed). The burden
of proof is the lightest burden allowed under the law, i.e.
preponderance of the evidence.
Important. If you have committed a new offense while on probation,
you will want to hire an attorney for both the new case and the
probation revocation hearing. Why? Simply put, an attorney can force
the state to comply with the law and have a probation revocation
hearing prior to your new court case. At the revocation hearing, the
attorney will be able to cross examine the witnesses and get
valuable information about your new case.
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