Personal Injury and Criminal Defense Legal Blog

GIVING JUDGES MORE DISCRETION TO DENY BAIL TO DANGER CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS

Currently, criminal defendants charged with violent crimes such as sexual assault, rape, other types of sex crimes, and assault with a deadly weapon, will be issued a bail at arraignment as a condition of release. While Judges have the option to set the bail as high as they want, within reason, along with the option to make the bail bondable, they must set a bail unless it is a criminal charge of capital murder. When a bail is bondable, it means a defendant pending trial on a criminal case can arrange for a bail bondsman to post the bail on his case, allowing for their release. Usually, the bail bondsman will want at least 10% of the bail amount for this service along with collateral for the entire bail amount. This is for the bondsman’s security in case the defendant fails to “show up” for a scheduled Court hearing, which would likely cause the Court to revoke the bail and issue an arrest warrant for the defendant. Often times the bails posted by bondsman are insured with an Insurance Company would demands on the bails being properly collateralized. As you can imagine, if a criminal defendant pending trial does not have the financial resources to post the entire bail themselves, having the Court make the bail bondable is very helpful to secure their release while the criminal case is pending.

Our criminal court system requires a certain amount of human discretion. Judges must review the facts of a criminal case quickly along with the history of the criminal defendant before them and make a decision on bail along with other conditions of release, such as how arrest and required treatment. Judges will generally have a recommendation from the prosecutor along with the defense attorney. Society must put a certain level of trust into its Judges hands to make the proper decision. Allowing for no bail options on criminal defendants charged with serious crimes during their ongoing case gives Judges additional discretion, which we must assume will be used properly under the circumstances.