I thought, for a long time, that when you’re arrested for something, your bail is set at a certain amount, ten percent of which is paid at arraignment, and that you won’t be released until you’ve paid the ten percent.
I heard of a case where the bail was something exorbitant, like fifty thou, and someone said, “He’ll never raise that money; he’ll be in lockup until AFTER the trial.” But according to the above, he would only have to raise 5 thousand (no small feat in itself). So after that, would he be in debt to the county/state/federal gov.?
Also, when people are arrested for stuff like drunk-and-disorderly, do they just pay the $100 and that’s it? Or do they also have to produce another $900?
Also also, I should have paid more attention during the Dahmer/Menendez/Simpson trials et. al. I remember seeing Dahmer in a prison jumpsuit in a courtroom. I remember seeing O.J. in a jumpsuit for the…hearings? but in a business suit for the trial itself. I don’t remember the Menendez brothers in prison gear at all, just those everlasting sweaters, but I think I didn’t see Kazcyinski or McVeigh in anything else. So what’s the criteria for being released from prison before a verdict has been determined?
It depends on all sorts of factors:
[ul]
[li]probability of skipping town - Since OJ had a flight of sorts before his arrest, his bail was probably either very high or denied, keeping him jailed until his acquittal.[/li][li]heiniousness of crime - The judge can set it high if it were for, say, slicing up your ex-wife and her friend, even though you’re supposedly innocent before being proved guilty.[/li][li]safety of the accused - Revengeful relatives are quite often a threat to the accused. So he must be taken out of public for his own safety. (Do you think McVeigh could’ve avoided the relatives of 168 people for the many months his trial took?)[/li][/ul]
The last one was the reason for jails before the 18th century or so. Jails were not designed for long-term stays; they were to protect accused people from the public until their guilt or innocence was determined by jury. The punishment once they were found guilty was usually death, hence jury trials were for really serious stuff.
As sailor said, the 10% is your down-payment on the bond – does not have to be to a private bondsman: in my town, you (or your lawyer) may go directly to the Office of PreTrial Services with your 10% in cold cash and a guarantee for the 90%. Depending on your jurisdiction, there may be a minimum cut-off point for this to kick in (e.g. bail posted in full up to $100, $100 for bails between $101 and $1000, 10% if $1001 or greater) as well as a level at which the 90% must be “secured” with a lien upon property (You skip, Grandma joins the homeless…) – and the court has discretion on who gets a break in lesser infractions.
Where I live the local constitution forbids holding w/o bail so what State Court does is slap the really dangerous dudes (or known bail-jumpers) with stupendously astronomical bails and hope 10% exceeds their liquid worth.
The person posting the bond must also have the necessary collateral to cover the amount of the bond. What you are really doing is borrowing money from the bailbonds person for the amount of the bond. The cost of the money is a percentage of the amount of bail. The % amount is set by the bailbonds person you are dealing with but it seems that 10% is fairly commonly used amount.
We chatted about bail and bondsmen a few months ago: On Bounty Hunters. It includes some comments from a former bounty hunter, vtel57, which you may find helpful.
In this jurisdiction, there is such thing as a “cash only” bail where they want, say, $5000 in cash to cover $5000 bail. More common is the the type where the bail bondsman guarantees the bail in return for a 10-15% fee up front.
FWIF, I’ve heard that the amount you pay the bondsman is always lost. If you’re charged with a really heinous crime,
say murder, bail might be set at one million. Not only would you pay the bondsman $100,000, but I think you have to show that you have assets to the full million. All this would be forfeit if you jump. But you lose the $100,000 regardless of how the case turns out; it’s just the bondsman’s commission for handling your bail.
OTOH, I believe that if you can simply put up the million yourself, you’ll get it all back.
Many states do not have a constitution that precludes holding a person without bond, and in those states murder in the first degree (or whatever it is called in the state) is a crime for which there is no bail. Obviously, Cal. is not one of those states, as O.J. appeared to be out on bail.
O.J. was not out on bail, he was incarcerated the whole time it took to try him. You may be confused by the fact that he did, as per due process, accompany the jury, judge, and court officers on a visit to his Brentwood home, in the course of the proceedings. Under some circumstances murder is, or was, a bailable offense in California, but O.J. was denied bail because the sudden trip to Chicago followed by the famous slow motion chase suggested he was a flight risk.
