Wednesday, February 6, 2019

The Pros And Cons Of San Diego Bail Bonds

By Martha Reed


No society can function without certain laws and regulations that are in place to ensure that order prevails. Law enforcement agencies are there to make sure that these laws are honored. Those that break the law are arrested and charged. Eventually, they will be tried in a court of law. Those arrested are placed into custody, but they cannot be kept there indefinitely. Thankfully, with San Diego bail bonds many of those arrested can be released again until they are tried.

The vast majority of arrests made each year involve normally perfectly law abiding citizens that made stupid mistakes. They drive while under the influence, get involved in situations from which they should have run away and allow their emotions to override their common sense. The point is that when one is arrested, there is only one priority and that is to get competent legal representation straight away.

In most cases, those arrested are released until a date for their trials can be set. Being released is not a right, however, and is granted at the discretion of the court. The court needs to be sure that the accused will adhere to certain conditions, such as refraining from interfering in the case against him. He may be restricted from traveling too, for example.

In most cases, the release of an arrested person is subject to the payment of a specified amount to serve as surety that he will stick to the conditions of his release. This amount differs. It is refunded after the case is heard, regardless whether the accused is found guilty or not. If the accused cannot raise the money to be posted, he can still approach a bondsman.

There is a hefty price to pay for the quick and efficient service offered by bondsmen. They charge services fees that can be as high as fifteen percent of the amount borrowed by the accused. This can be a very high amount. The payback schedule for this fee is stipulated in a contract that the accused have to sign before the surety is paid over to the court. The loan amount must be covered by pledging assets.

Sadly and understandably, most people borrowing money from bondsmen do not read the contracts that they have to sign. They are stressed and just want to be able to go home, so they sign. It is only later that they realize that the terms and conditions are extremely restrictive. The slightest infringement can cause seizure of their assets. The best thing to do is to leave all dealings with the bondsmen to the lawyer.

The biggest mistake any accused can make is to fail to adhere to the conditions of release. He will almost surely be arrested once more and further charges will be added. He will forfeit the money paid to the court as surety. If the court grants release for a second time, he may have to apply for another loan from a bondsman. This can cause a financial disaster.

The practice of releasing arrested individuals has its critics. However, it is a constitutional right to be deemed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. It would not be just to keep every accused locked up until his case can finally be tried, often only months after the initial arrest.




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