The purpose of setting bail is to ensure the defendant comes to court for trial and any required pre-trial court dates. A Motion to Reduce Bond to may be filed demonstrate to the court that the defendant’s ties to the community and the circumstances of the charge make it unlikely that the defendant would flee the jurisdiction, thereby allowing the court to set a substantially lower bond or release the defendant on his signature or own recognizances (ROR). In many of these cases, the defendant’s family actually saves money by hiring an attorney to file the motion to reduce bond which is often much less expensive then posting unreasonably high bond.
Even in those cases in which the defendant is being held without bond, an experienced attorney may convince the court that although the court is allowed to hold the defendant without setting bond, under the facts of that particular case, the court should set a reasonable bond.
You may be seeking a Miami Dade, Broward or Palm Beach County criminal defense attorney to discuss a potential bail bond reduction for any of the following reasons:
In determining bond, the court will consider the following factors:
1.the financial circumstances of the defendant
2.the defendant’s address and ties to the community
3.the defendant’s occupation and employment history
4.the defendant’s family and relatives that live inthe community
5.the extent and nature of any criminal history of the defendant
6.the nature of the alleged offense.
Once the bail amount has been set by the court, there are two methods of posting bail:
In order to post a cash bond, the entire amount of the bond must be posted in cash or a cashiers check with the sheriff’s office. At the conclusion of the case, the entire amount of the cash bond (less any fines or court costs imposed by the court if the defendant enters a plea or is found guilty) is returned to the individual that posted the bond. If the person arrested fails to appear in court, then the entire bond will be forfeited.
In order to post bond, a surety or bail bonding company can post a written guarantee called a bail bond. In exchange for posting the bail bond, the bail bonding company typically charges a bond premium fee which is 10% of the bail bond’s total amount. The bail bondsman may also require collateral that equals the bail bond’s total amount. Therefore, if the bond is set at $25,000.00, an individual might enter into a contract with the bail bonding company to pay a fee of $2,500.00, plus post collateral for the entire $25,000.00.
Hiring an attorney before your first appearance is critical. At first appearance, the court will generally set the special conditions of your pretrial release. Bond is available for persons who have been arrested for charges that are not punishable by life or the death penalty in which proof of guilt is evident or the presumption of guilt is great. In most cases, other than domestic violence cases, the accused comes into the first appearance hearing with with a bond that has already been set from a standard bond schedule. If the accused was arrested on an arrest warrant, then the judge who signed the warrant has usually already set a bond amount, although that amount can be reviewed at first appearance.
The standard bond schedule or bond amount set on the warrant can be either raised or lowered at first appearance. The defendant is brought before the court for a First Appearance (or Advisory Hearing) within 24 hours of the arrest.
Under Florida law, when a person is accused of any act of domestic violence, including domestic battery, domestic assault, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, violation of a protective order or restraining order, stalking or aggravated stalking, the defendant must be held in jail until the defendant is brought before the judge at first appearance. In order words, the defendant is not entitled to bond out prior to the first appearance court date according to a standard bond schedule amount. At first appearance, the court will then set a bond amount and impose other conditions of release aimed at protecting the safety of the alleged victim, the alleged victim’s children, and any other person that might be in danger after the defendant’s arrest. The court will usually impose special conditions of bond including a "no contact" provision which will prevent the accused from returning to his house, or seeing his children until further order of the court. If the alleged victim also appears in court to ask the court not to impose the "no contact" condition, the judge will usually agree and instead impose a no violent contact provision while the case is pending. Likewise, if the alleged victim wishes to have contact after the initial first appearance hearing, an experienced attorney can put the case back before the judge on a motion to modify bond conditions to eliminate the no bond condition. Never violated the no contact provision because it can result in your arrest and being held with no bond until your case is resolved.
At DiMaggio Law Offices, we represent clients in bond hearings, or bond reduction hearings in Miami/Dade, Broward, Palm Beach County, and all of the surrounding areas throughout South Florida.
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