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Bellizia Law Office
395 Franklin Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
Tel: 973-202-6160
Fax: 973-743-2290
info@prosperlawoffice.com
If facing a criminal offense, retain an attorney to represent you immediately. A criminal attorney can make a motion to reduce bail.
If the defendant can't raise the amount of bail specified, a criminal defense attorney can petition the court to reduce his bail, or even to release him on his own recognizance. That may occur at the arraignment, or the defendant may be required to request a separate hearing on the reduction of bail.
In considering the appropriate bail amount, courts may consider such things as the crime in question, the potential penalties, the defendant's ties to the community, whether or not the defendant is employed, and the defendant's history of appearing as scheduled in any other court proceedings. All of these factors help the court to weigh the likelihood that the defendant will appear for trial, which is what bail is intended to ensure. A criminal defense attorney in the county where the charges are filed will be able to explain which factors carry the most weight in the local court system and what kinds of evidence will be most helpful at a bail reduction hearing.
In most states, the defendant must post the full amount of the bail (or equivalent property) before he is released. Often, the defendant won't be able to cover that cost on his own, and so will have to work with a bondsman. A bondsman writes a bond that guarantees the bail, so that the defendant doesn't have to produce the full amount in cash.
The major advantage to working with a bondsman is that the defendant can get out of jail with a much smaller cash investment—usually about 10% of the bail amount. The advantage for the courts is that the bondsman, who stands to lose the full amount of bail if the defendant fails to appear in court, has a powerful incentive to ensure that he does. In most states, bondsman can arrest a defendant who has failed to appear and bring him before the court—or back to jail.
It's only natural that when someone is arrested, he wants to get out of jail as quickly as possible. Sometimes it's an absolute necessity, where waiting even a day or two might mean lost employment, no one to care for children, etc. But in many cases, that eagerness costs money. Often, a criminal defense attorney will be able to get bail reduced, or even secure a recognizance bond. While the temptation is understandably strong to call a bondsman and get out of jail as quickly as possible, waiting to talk to an attorney might mean a difference of thousands of dollars.