# Posting a high bail. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 31, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832 "2009-01-31T04:11:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/1 "2009-01-31T04:11:48Z")
Will a bail bond service likely cover a three million dollar bail in a case such as [this](http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/ci_11591898) one? The cop would be, in my opinion anyway, a pretty high risk for flight. Plus, I don’t think his family has that kind of cash. Do they often cover multi-million bails, and is the fee still ten percent for such high amounts? $300,000! Is “bails” a word? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/2 "2009-02-01T18:57:30Z")
Below is an piece from the _Oakland Tribune_. At the foot of the article there is a comment on bail bond companies which goes like this: > [@](#): > > These companies typically seek 10 percent of the bail in addition to collateral such as property equal in worth to the bail. The bail bonds company keeps the 10 percent charge and then releases the collateral once the trial has concluded. In some instances, a bail bonds company might reduce the percentage depending on the bail amount and the circumstances of the case. But most won’t issue a bond on a bail of $3 million because they would have to pay the full amount if the defendant fled. Incidentally John Burris, the attorney acting for the victim’s family, opines that Mehserle’s bail is makeable because “his family has assets.” If they do, and if such assets are not available in cash, then property to the value of $6m can be pledged to the court. [Link](http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11591101?source=most_emailed). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2009, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/3 "2009-02-01T19:25:35Z")
> [@Chez\_Guevara](#): > > Incidentally John Burris, the attorney acting for the victim’s family, opines that Mehserle’s bail is makeable because “his family has assets.” If they do, and if such assets are not available in cash, then property to the value of $6m can be pledged to the court. > > [Link](http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_11591101?source=most_emailed). That’s kinda what I’d assumed. If the family does indeed have such assets, the bond companies would be all over it. But those assets need to be available in cash. Ten million in real property may have only a couple million, or less, in equity. Plus the guy is undrstandably scared shitless, and to me would be a huge risk. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/4 "2009-02-02T16:58:49Z")
With a property bail bond the court takes a lien for the bail amount. The reason the property value needs to be roughly twice the cash value is that in cases of bail jumping the court is entitled to sell the property quickly at below market rate. This raises the question of what happens in a difficult economic situation, like now for example, if the equity in said property falls to an amount substantially less than twice the cash bail. I wonder if the accused is then hauled into jail because his property bond no longer satisfies the court. Another matter to consider is that, in some states, the owner of the property must vacate the premises until it is effectively his own once more. Whether or not California is one such state is unknown to me. [Link](http://www.lawprofessor.com/bail/property-bail-bonds/). ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/5 "2009-02-03T14:12:21Z")
The news was talking about this subject this morning. It seems the family has to secure the 3 mil plus pay the bond company the ten percent! So if the guy skips, the bond company is up the $300,000 and out nothing. I must be mis-understanding this. If the family secures the bail, why would they even need a bondsman/woman? ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2009, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/6 "2009-02-03T22:06:40Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > The news was talking about this subject this morning. It seems the family has to secure the 3 mil plus pay the bond company the ten percent! So if the guy skips, the bond company is up the $300,000 and out nothing. I must be mis-understanding this. If the family secures the bail, why would they even need a bondsman/woman? Bail must be paid in cash. If their security consisted of, say, three million dollars worth of real estate, they would have to liquidate the whole thing to pay bail without a bondsman. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/7 "2009-02-09T18:55:36Z")
[Another report](http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11647292) from the _Oakland Tribune_ dated 6 February doesn’t shed much light on the situation. > [@](#): > > Former BART police Officer Johannes Mehserle was freed from jail Friday on $3 million bail, according to the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office. > > About 3:45 p.m., Mehserle was escorted from Santa Rita Jail in Dublin by the bondsman who posted a bond, said Sgt J.D. Nelson, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office. > > Mehserle — accused of murder in the Jan. 1 shooting of an unarmed, prone Oscar Grant III, of Hayward, at Oakland’s Fruitvale BART station — was released a week after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Morris Jacobson set the bail amount. > > It remains unclear how Mehserle’s family was able to generate the cash needed for the bail. Nelson said Mehserle used the services of a bail bonds company but did not know the details of the agreement. Further details on this story would be much appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/8 "2009-02-09T19:18:58Z")
[QUOTE=attorney for wrongful death plaintiffs] “I nor the family are surprised that bail has been met,” he said. “We thought it should be no bail. We certainly believed whatever the amount of bail set he could meet it because of family friends and police associations.” [/QUOTE] [http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci\_11647292](http://www.mercurynews.com/topstories/ci_11647292) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2009, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/posting-a-high-bail/483832/9 "2009-02-09T21:54:48Z")
A judge can’t secretly alter a bail judgement, can one? And the public has been surprisingly quiet about Mehserle’s release since the day it happened.