Arrests can be traumatic, but one involving a felony offense is even more disorienting. Your daily life is disrupted, and all you focus on is exiting police custody, even though temporarily, as the case continues. It is at this point that the concept of bail arises. Bail is a guarantee that allows you to leave pretrial detention pending the conclusion of your case. It comes with conditions, including a requirement to deposit money or a valuable item with the court.
For felony offenses, bail can be significantly expensive for you to afford. If you cannot afford bail for your charges, you should turn to a seasoned bail bondsman to offer financial support. At Alana’s Bail Bonds, we provide quality felony bail bonds in San Diego to enable you to return to work and your life while the case is ongoing.
Overview of California Bail
Bail helps create a balance between granting defendants pretrial freedom and guaranteeing future court appearances. The court requires insurance that, after release, you will return for scheduled hearings, rather than placing you in pretrial detention for months or years pending the conclusion of the case. The court does this in adherence to the “maxim of innocent until proven guilty.”
When the police arrest you for a severe crime, such as a felony, you appear before a judge during arraignment for bail setting. The judge utilizes the local county bail schedule as a guide to determine bail. However, they have the option to increase or reduce the figure on the schedule depending on the circumstances surrounding your felony offense. Most of these factors relate to your chances of skipping or fleeing town after release and failing to attend the trial. Some of the factors include:
- The severity of your felony offense
- Your criminal record, such as previous convictions and skipping scheduled court meetings
- Your community ties, like stable employment or family
- Flight risks or how likely you are to run away from your jurisdiction after release
- The possible danger or threat you pose to the public or your victim
If you are charged with a serious or violent felony, the judge is entitled to deny you bail completely. Even though every defendant is entitled to bail, if the pretrial release increases the risk of you committing another offense or you have a history of parole or probation violations, the court can deny bail.
If you qualify for bail, you should use it to regain your freedom. With freedom, even if it is temporary, you can reunite with your family and resume your work. Again, you will have time to enroll in pretrial diversion programs, like rehabilitation, which you can cite as a mitigating factor to obtain a lenient sentence.
Legal Definition of a Felony Charge
California statutes classify criminal offenses into three categories: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. In most cases, infractions do not result in pretrial detentions, as arrestees are issued citations, meaning you will not require bail. Also, infractions are only punishable by court fines with no jail term.
The other category is misdemeanor. These are minor offenses, too, but more severe than infractions. They include:
- Petty theft
- Certain drinking and driving offenses
- Vandalism
Typically, when you are arrested for a misdemeanor, you undergo the booking process and must post bail to obtain freedom, unless the court releases you on your own recognizance. Upon conviction for a misdemeanor, you will face at most twelve months of jail incarceration, a court fine, or summary probation. Bail for misdemeanor offenses is generally low, and you can be released using the figure provided on the bail schedule for the offense without having to appear before a judge.
Felony charges are considered more severe than misdemeanors and are classified as serious, violent, or both. Upon conviction for a felony offense, you will face longer prison time, heftier fines, and in some cases, the death penalty. The common bail offenses are:
- Murder
- Kidnapping
- Vehicular homicide
- Particular drug crimes
- Sexual assault
- Manslaughter
- Robbery
- Burglary
Some crimes are wobblers, and the prosecutor can file them as misdemeanors or felonies contingent on the case’s facts. For instance, a DUI offense could be filed as a felony if you have a previous DUI conviction, you have been found guilty of drinking and driving at least four times, your DUI has caused a serious accident, or you have caused someone’s death while driving under the influence.
Due to the severity of the felony charges, they tend to carry higher predetermined bail amounts in the bail schedule. The bail can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. The high bail is not a punishment for the felony offense. It provides more incentive for the defendant to appear, as skipping court would result in forfeiting significant amounts of money or high-value property. The bail must be greater than the possible consequences of the felony conviction to incentivize the defendant to appear. If it were lower, the defendant would easily flee the jurisdiction to avoid the potential penalties, which exceed the bail posted.
The Steps of Obtaining Felony Bail Bonds
The process of securing a bail bond for your felony offense starts with an arrest, booking, bail determination, and bail posting.
Arrest and Booking
When police arrest you for a felony violation, they will take you to the nearest jail or police station for booking. At the detention facility, the booking officer will record your name, take a mugshot, and conduct fingerprinting. Additionally, they will confiscate your belongings to prevent counterfeit items from entering the police cells. The officer will conduct a background check to determine your criminal record and verify whether you have an active arrest warrant. The background checks also give law enforcement a picture of the person you are and your community standing.
Once you have been booked, your file is submitted to the prosecutor, who, after evaluating the case’s facts and the presented evidence, determines whether to file charges or return your file for further investigations.
The Bail Proceeding
After the prosecutor formally lodges felony charges, you will appear for a bail hearing within twenty-four hours of your arrest, unless it falls on a holiday or weekend and the courts are closed. In the hearing, the prosecutor submits your charges to the judge and makes bail amount suggestions or requests that the court deny you bail. If you have legal representation, your attorney will argue against bail denial or high bail. They will persuade the judge to release you without bail, lower the recommended bail, or grant you bail if the prosecutor is requesting that you be denied bail.
After reviewing the evidence and arguments presented by the opposing parties, the judge will rule on bail. If they grant bail, they will set the amount guided by the bail schedule.
Posting Bail
Posting bail for a felony offense is expensive. You have several options for approaching it. One, if you have savings or investments and can afford the full amount in cash, money order, banker’s check, traveler’s check, or cashier’s check, you can post a cash bail. When you deposit the entire figure, you regain your freedom pending the trial.
Posting cash bail can prove challenging, especially now that your personal belongings have been confiscated during the booking process. Furthermore, very few defendants have access to tens of thousands of dollars to post bail upfront. The majority of the defendants are from low-income backgrounds, and meeting the financial obligation of the felony bail can be challenging. Unless their family members take out a loan using their property or sell property, which can take time, the defendant cannot afford bail.
The few who can afford cash bail are also discouraged from using this option, especially if the felony charge is for a financial or drug crime. The payment could raise suspicions about the source of the funds, leading to a hold, which would further delay pretrial freedom. After a hold, the court schedules a lengthy hearing to determine the legitimacy of the funds. Therefore, even with the money for cash bail available, it is crucial to explore other options.
Another option for posting bail is a property bond. Defendants rarely utilize this option because it is lengthy and can delay your pretrial release. You must prove property ownership and find an appraiser to determine the property’s value before you can use it as collateral for the felony bail. The court claims a lien on the property until the case is resolved. If the case concludes without a bail violation, the court releases the lien on the property, restoring ownership. However, when you violate the bail terms, the property is forfeited.
With felony cash bail and felony property bonds not being the most affordable or effective means of posting bail, most defendants turn to reputable bail bond companies for felony bail bond services. You only need 10% of your total bail to purchase a felony bail bond from a seasoned bail bondsman. The 10% is non-refundable and acts as a fee for the felony bond.
Bail for felony offenses is colossal if you are to use cash bail. However, when you turn to a bail bonds company, you only need to pay a fraction of the full bail to regain freedom, significantly reducing the initial cost of pretrial release. The bail bondsmen will not only post the bail on your behalf, but they will also provide professional guidance post-release to ensure you attend all court hearings.
If you choose to purchase a felony bail bond, you must start by contacting your loved ones to inform them of the arrest and the bail you should pay. It is challenging to research the available companies and hire from behind bars. You will need help from someone close to you on the outside. A family member or close friend can help you find the right bail bondsman and deal with them on your behalf until the close of the case. The individual handling the details of the bail bond contract is a cosigner.
Once your cosigner finds the right company, they will provide them with the necessary information, such as name, birth date, booking number, jail location, and charge type. The bail bondsman will use the information to verify the defendant’s location and the amount of bail.
Your indemnitor will fill out the felony bail bonds application forms. They will also provide their information, like employment history, assets, and financial stability, for the bail bondsman to evaluate and determine the existing risk. If you skip town after being released on temporary bail, the indemnitor will be financially liable for the bond. Depending on the risk involved, the bail bondsman can require the cosigner to pledge collateral as insurance for the bond.
If the bail bonds firm approves your cosigner, the next step is to deposit the premium fee. The cosigner can pay the premium in full. However, with felony bail being expensive, even the ten percent can prove costly, necessitating a flexible repayment plan. The plan allows for payment of a small deposit on the premium and the balance in installments once you leave custody. After the fee is paid, the cosigner will sign the felony bail bond contract. A bail bondsman will then be sent to deposit a surety bond with the court. The bond guarantees the court full payment of the total bail if the defendant fails to appear in court. By doing so, your bail bondsman becomes responsible for your future court appearances, as their money is on the line.
Hiring the Right Bail Bonds Firm
As a cosigner, posting a felony bail bond on behalf of the defendant is a serious task. You must partner with seasoned and reliable bail bondsmen to expedite the release process. You should consider retaining the services of a bail bondsman who can streamline the process and make it more affordable.
The California Insurance Department must license your bail bondsman to offer services. Verify that the experts you are considering have a valid license.
Additionally, look for a transparent company that is willing to explain the costs and provide detailed, clearly presented price quotations. Additionally, the company must clearly define the risks you will be taking as a cosigner and the associated costs you will incur, without concealing any details.
Lastly, your bail bondsman must have experience in felony bail bonds. Therefore, do not forget to inquire about the company’s expertise in handling cases like yours.
Find an Experienced Bail Bondsman Near Me
Felony charges come with immense pressure, which is why you must understand felony bail bonds because you will require this instrument to obtain pretrial release. A seasoned bail bondsman is the most suitable person to explain your situation and the process to follow to regain freedom pending the trial. At Alana’s Bail Bonds, we can help you return to your life through affordable bail bond services. Call us at 619-468-9333 to schedule an appointment in San Diego.
