Randy and Evi Quaid 'skip court date'

Randy and Evi Quaid failed to appear before a judge at a mandatory hearing in Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

The couple - who were apprehended in Canada last week for several US-based arrest warrants - were due to be arraigned on felony vandalism charges but did not show up, reports The AP.

An arrest warrant was then issued by Judge Donna Geck for Evi while Randy was spared in order to attend an immigration hearing on November 16 in Canada. Evi also forfeited her previously posted $500,000 (£311,750) bail.

The pair's attorney Robert Sanger insisted that they did not appear because they feared bounty hunters were looking for them.

The lawyer also claimed that the Quaids may be innocent in the charges, which stem from an incident in which they were found squatting in a previously-owned home.

"There may be a claim of right - as strange as that may seem - to the property in this case," he said.