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Posted on April 20, 2020 in Criminal Defense
What is bond and how does it work? How do I get someone out of jail? This is probably one of the most common questions we get along with how to pick up someone’s property from jail. Almost every day our Phoenix criminal defense lawyers receive calls from people who are distressed after a loved one is arrested and put in jail. And to get this person out of jail, someone has to pay bail. In general, a lot of people do not have experience in how to handle this situation, and if you’ve never done it before, you might feel intimidated.
Bailing someone out of jail can be a scary process. Once someone has been arrested, they must appear in front of a judge within 24 hours of the arrest; if this does not occur with 24 hours of an arrest, then you must be immediately released from custody. This is called an initial appearance, and this a court proceeding where the judge will determine if there is a probable cause the arrest, what release conditions are appropriate and sets the case for a preliminary hearing. This is when the bond amount is set by the judge to get someone out of jail. Basically, this is a crucial stage of any criminal case and when we learn the amount of money that is needed to bail someone out of jail.
If a loved one has been arrested and the bond is a $50,000 secured appearance bond. What does that mean? A secured appearance bond requires you to post 10% plus collateral. In the above example, that would be $5000, plus a deed to property or a title to a car equal to $50,000 in value. If the bond is a $50,000 cash bond, collateral cannot be used. The amount of $50,000 would have to be posted to get someone out of jail. If you put up money for a bail bond, you are responsible for repaying it. You are also responsible for that person to follow the rules of the bail situation. They must do what the court requires as a condition of their release, including showing up to court dates. If your friend or loved one fails to follow the terms of release, the court revokes the bond. You lose your money. And this will result in your friend or loved one going back to jail until trial.
This is a very likely situation; the majority of people do not have $50,000 in cash or collateral to use as a bond to get someone out of jail. What are your options if this is the case? The ideal situation would be to have an attorney at the initial appearance to get you the best condition of release possible. If you did not have an attorney at your initial appearance, you could have an attorney file a motion to modify the conditions of release, asking the judge to lower the bond. A huge mistake is to spend limited resources to get your friend or loved one out of jail and then not have money to hire a skilled defense attorney. Do not allow short term incarceration concerns to outweigh long term incarceration potential. Moreover, an attorney can file the motion to modify the conditions of release that we discussed above.
To be in the position of a friend or loved one arrested and in jail is understandably a frightening and stressful situation. After the initial arrest, this is a crucial part of their criminal proceedings. A lot can be done at this early stage if you get an experienced and skilled attorney on board. This is why we recommend speaking with a criminal defense attorney as soon as possible. Our attorneys at AZ Defenders are local and can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to assist in getting a loved one out of jail. If you contact AZ Defenders immediately following the arrest of your friend or loved one, our experienced criminal defense attorneys can be with them at their initial appearance in front of the judge. To get our skilled legal team started working on your loved one’s case immediately without risk contact us online or call today at 480-456-6400.