Lindsay  Lohan and her mom Dina took the last flight out of JFK  last night and jetted to L.A. after being warned she'd be a wanted woman if she  was a no-show in court this morning.

Lindsay -- who is not just broke but  deeply in debt -- waited in her car at the airport (above) until the last minute  ... then flew first class on American Airlines and landed at around 12:30  AM.

TMZ broke the story ... Lindsay had no intention of showing up in her  lying-to-cops case and got a doctor's note which was filed with the court,  saying she couldn't fly because she had an upper respiratory infection.   But then we posted pictures of Lindsay shopping and smoking in SoHo the very day  she got the doctor's note.

We're told Lindsay went into a panic after we  posted our story Tuesday and started calling everyone to find out if we were  right ... that the judge would probably issue a warrant for her arrest if she  didn't show.  Our Lindsay sources say she was pleading with Shawn  Holley -- the lawyer she fired -- to come back on the case, saying she  didn't like her replacement -- New York lawyer Mark Heller.

Holley made  it clear days ago ... she's off the case, so it's now up to Heller, who clearly  started off on the wrong foot by submitting the doctor's note, along with a New  York Post article saying a lot of people in NYC had the flu.

Heller has  another problem -- the lawyer he got to sponsor him to appear in a California  court has never met him, and it's possible the judge could deny him the right to  represent Lindsay. 

So Lindsay could be lawyerless ... and you know  what they say about a client who reps herself ...