A defendant, through no fault of his/her own, who has made a good faith effort but is unable to comply with a court order.

Obviously, I do not speak for other judges, but

It is not my intention, goal or desire to ‘sanction’ a defendant if, through no fault of his/her own, (s)he is not able to comply with a bond condition or term of probation or other court order.  What is required is a good faith effort by the defendant to comply with all required terms.  Many times the issue is financial.  When that happens, if a defendant, through no fault of his/her own, has made a good faith effort but is unable to comply with a court order, it is my intention, goal and desire to look at other alternatives.  This, however, requires attorneys/defendants to be pro-active and bring it to the court, sooner rather than later.

Obviously, one is encouraged to try and work with probation or other supervising entity and/or the prosecutor’s office, but if you are not satisfied with their response and you believe you have a defendant who is legitimately unable to comply with a court order, you should  be requesting a hearing before me, and sooner rather than later.  Waiting until after the bench warrant is issued or unexcusable non-compliance minimizes and may negate the possibility of actually doing something about it.  Especially, with the effect this may have on one’s freedom and any sentencing agreement.