[BPA234]

If I were you, I would get a deecnt ciminal defense lawyer in the locale of the court. Yes, you shuld have responded to the jury duty summons. But, everyone makes mistakes especially when they're young. Now you need t do whatever you can to prevent this mistake from hounding you for the rest of your life.

Having a misdemeanor criminl record can/will cause issues for you later in life. Many job applications ask if you have ever been arrested/convcted for/of a crime. No distinction is made for felony or misdemeanor. Many employers follow-up with criminal back-ground checks and with the increased connectivity from state to state, you can no longer rely on geography to help shield a convction.

Bottom line, with no priors, legitimate claim that you were in NY and that you never received notice (my attorney told me that is the always the play-you did not receive the notice-he also told me to man up and perform the [censored] jury duty) you should be able to get the charge dropped or reduced to a non-criminal complaint.