Hello,

I was given my ticket on May 30th for possession of a small amount of marijuana and on a US military base, absolute huge mistake. It is July 08 and I am waiting on my summons, but I will be out of town from July 14th to July 30th. My question is: how much time would the federal court allow before response to a summons? And does one have to be present when receiving a summons? Anything would be helpful.

Hello M:

You'll probably get the summons in the mail and you should have plenty of time until your first hearing. That would be a good time to hire a lawyer.

excon

Military law is very different than civilian law, so be careful.

If you're in the military:There is a 99% chance that the militRY won't care about you being out of town, unless it's a deployment or death in the IMMEDIATE family. Sorry to say, you very well might get a Dishonorable Discharge. The military has a zero tolerance for drug use.

(I'm a veteran)

Go to JAG immediately!

Not in the miliary: The punishment for committing crimes involving/in the vicinity of soldiers especially on post are severe. Get a lawyer!! Soldiers are government property, any harm done to them by another party are subject to severe punishment.

The armed forces will not see this as simply as the regular police do. You're not going to get much, if any, leeway...