If you have been arrested for a state of Florida offense, you are entitled to a bond hearing. You may be eligible for release on your own personal recognizance or on bail. If bail is set too high, you may ask for a reduction of bail.
What Does “Personal Recognizance” Mean?
Personal recognizance means the pretrial release of a defendant from jail without posting bail. The defendant agrees to show up in court. A defendant is released upon some conditions without a bond.
What Does “Bail” Mean?
Bail is a set amount of money that a someone must pay as insurance that the defendant will appear in court. Defendants have the option to pay their bail in cash. Because bail is often too high, most defendants are unable to post bail. Defendants often call a bail bondsman who posts a bail bond for them.
What Does “Bail Bond” Mean?
A bail bond is a type of surety bond that secures the release of a defendant from jail. A bail bond guarantees that a defendant will appear in court.
How Do Bail Bonds Work?
To post a bail bond, a defendant is usually required to pay a bail bondsman 10% of the bail amount. The bondsman may require collateral. If a defendant fails to appear in court the bond is forfeited, and the court requires the bondsman to pay the remaining 90% of the bail.
How Can I Get a Bail Bond?
Florida law provides that every person charged with a crime shall be entitled to pretrial release on reasonable conditions, subject to two exceptions.
The first exception is the pretrial detention exception: if no conditions of release can reasonably protect the community from risk of physical harm to persons or assure the presence of the accused at trial.
The second exception is the capital or life offense exception: where pretrial release may be denied to an accused who is charged with a capital offense or an offense punishable by life imprisonment and the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption is great.
The Florida Constitution provides:
When a defendant is not charged with a capital offense or offense punishable by life imprisonment, he is entitled to bail. A defendant is also entitled to a reasonable bail. Depending upon the financial circumstances of the defendant, excessive bail is the same as no bail.
Why Should I Hire a Criminal Defense Lawyer?
In addition to a defendant’s financial circumstances, there are number of other things to be considered in setting bail, and each case depends on its own facts. Factors to be considered in determining the amount of bail include:
- the nature of the offense and the penalty for it
- the strength of the evidence or probability of guilt
- the probability of the accused appearing at trial
- his family ties and employment
- the length and stability of his residence in the community
- the prior record of the accused in responding to process
- whether the accused was a fugitive from justice when arrested
- whether the accused is under bond for appearance at trial in other cases
The purpose of bail is to ensure the appearance of a defendant at subsequent proceedings and to protect the community against unreasonable danger from the criminal defendant.
Bail is basic to our system of law. Doubts whether it should be granted or denied should always be resolved in favor of the defendant.
