In_spid

X-No-archive: yes

I am caught in a strange situation and would appreciate any help/advice-

-Got my DUI in California in July 2000 while on H1B work permit. Get level 2 program
and community service. Was a first offence.
- Finished community service. DUI school was supposed to end in June 2001 but my
employer shunted me to India in May because of tech slowdown. 5 more weeks to
go to finish DUI classes. I have no idea if and when and for how long will I
return to the US
- I inform my DUI school and they grant an extended leave of absence
- My lawyer duly informed the court that I would be leaving for an indefinite period.
This goes in court records as "minutes order". My lawyer convinced me that it wont
be a problem and he will appear in court on my behalf on due date when court needs
completion certificate
- I return to India and my lawyer informs me in August that the judge didn't like my
absence from court and issued a bench warrant for my arrest.
- I let it hang for a while as I am in the process of switching jobs
- My new job will need me to travel extensively to the US on business trips
- My lawyer tells me the judge will need me personally present to cancel warrant.
Other option is to post bail of $5000. He says completing school is a requirement
of probation so judge cant waive
it. His advice is to return to the US just to appear before the judge. Thats
impractical for me.

I need some help/advice if anyone has encountered anything similar before. My
doubts are-

- Will I be picked up at the port of entry as soon as I enter US? If so, then should
I post bail amount now?
- I can complete the school whenever I am in US for 2 months which is likely in near
future. But it may still be impractical to go to California and appear before the
same judge. Is it possible to somehow get the sentence downgraded to level 1 DUI,
which I have finished, and pay some fine in lieu of that?
- Is my lawyer handling the whole thing correctly?

I am just caught in a situation where I want to comply with the law, but because of
another arm of the law, ie the INS, had to leave.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!!