I have received a letter from the District Attorney''s office of Boston that "commands and summons" me to be in that city on a certain date for an unknown period of time until the trial is over. The trial is concerning a verbal harassment/threatening (but non-physical) fight. I was not the person who committed the crime, but was with him. I did not say anything to the people he threatened. I was 17 at the time and the officers asked me questions outside of the squad car while my parents were not there. I did not sign anything or give an "official" statement. I live in Pennsylvania and can think of no way to make it to Boston. I will be starting college and do not have the money to get up there and stay in a hotel for an unknown amount of time. Do I HAVE to go and testify against this person? Would it be possible to give a statement over the phone or in writing instead? The biggest reason I don't want to appear is that I feel unsafe doing so. The person who committed the crime called my cell phone after being arrested, screaming things at me (including profanities) and texted me 5-10 times after that. I feel uncomfortable going there to testify and feel like it would be very unsafe. The person who committed this crime is not in jail, so I am not protected in that sense.

Ignore the mail, summons are known to have gotten lost in the mail

That wasn't what I was initially going to suggest at first, but unless it was certified mail, that's probably good advice above....

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