When you are arrested, your options for securing release are few. If you have insufficient money to pay bail, you risk pretrial detention until the next court proceeding. Apart from bail, you can use a bail bonds firm to finance your release. Bail bondsmen know the criminal justice system and can navigate it with few challenges to reinstate your freedom temporarily for a fraction of the total bail. Therefore, if you need a bail bondsman after an arrest in Camp Pendleton, you can turn to Fausto’s Bail Bonds for assistance. Our bail bondsmen will post bail on your behalf, significantly reducing the financial obligation of posting bail.
The Immediate Aftermath of An Arrest
When you are arrested, the following happens:
The Arresting Officer Issues you a Citation or takes you to Jail
When you are arrested, the officer may issue you a citation stating your offense and the date you must appear in court before releasing you. However, the police only cite arrestees for minor crimes or infractions.
Alternatively, the officer can detain you in the nearest jail or police station. The detention duration depends on how long it takes for you to secure a pretrial release.
The Booking Process
When the officers take you into custody, you will undergo the booking procedure. Even if you seek to exit police custody immediately, you are placed in detention; you must undergo this administrative process, which entails the following:
- Recording of your information and the arrest details in the police database
- A thorough body search
- Confiscating your belongings, including clothes, and issuing you with a jail uniform
- Taking fingerprints and mugshots
- Collecting DNA samples by swabbing your cheek if you have been charged with a felony
The booking duration varies from one station to another and depends on the number of arrestees undergoing processing and the officers on duty.
After booking, the officers will allow you to make a phone call.
Remaining in Police Custody or Securing Pretrial Release
Police in Camp Pendleton rely on the local bail schedule to determine the bail detainees should pay to regain temporary freedom. So, when bail is provided for your offense in the schedule, officers can refer to it to set bail without waiting for the initial court hearing when the judge sets bail. If this is not possible, you can make a bail application during the arraignment.
The Formal Complaint and Initial Court Appearance
Most arrests do not involve a judge-issued arrest warrant, meaning the prosecutor only learns of the case after you have been arrested. So, after booking, officers prepare a file, including your information, details of the arrest, and evidence gathered against you, and forward it to the prosecutor. The prosecutor, or DA, evaluates the evidence presented to determine whether it is sufficient to file a formal complaint.
If the evidence is insufficient, the prosecutor returns the file for further investigation. When this happens, you will be released without bail. Nevertheless, when they lodge a formal complaint, you change from being a suspect to a defendant.
After the formal charges are filed, your first court appearance will be an arraignment, which must occur within 24 hours of arrest, unless it falls on a holiday or weekend. In the proceeding, the judge will explain your constitutional rights, read your charge, allow you to enter a plea, and decide your custody status.
Bail Determination During An Adversarial Hearing
If your bail is not set using a bail schedule, the court will determine your bail in an adversarial or bail proceeding. In the hearing, the judge rules on whether you should pay bail and secure pretrial release.
There are four possible outcomes in a bail proceeding, including:
- A release on own recognizance (OR)
- Require you to post bail
- Release you without bail, but on other non-financial conditions
- Deny the bail application and place you in pretrial detention pending case conclusion if your crime is categorized as a violent felony.
The Supreme Court ruled that defendants who cannot afford bail after it is set must be released without a financial obligation, unless there is clear and convincing evidence that the individual poses a threat to public safety. The court holds a Humphrey proceeding to ensure that a lack of money is not the only reason a defendant is in custody. The automatic bail review occurs within 5 days of the bail being set.
If you do not qualify for an OR release but you are eligible for bail, the factors the court considers in the adversarial hearing to set your bail include:
- The unique facts and nature of your charges
- The likelihood of a conviction in the trial is contingent on the prosecutor’s evidence against you
- Your criminal past
- Your neighborhood ties
- The risk of fleeing jurisdiction
- Your history of skipping court after release on bail
- Your criminal status
Additionally, the judge should consider your ability to post bail to ensure that your pretrial release is not solely tied to your financial capability.
The judges consider many factors before setting bail. Therefore, do not expect bail amounts for defendants facing exact charges to be equal. Some will pay more than others, contingent on their unique situation.
Different Bail Options
Once you learn of the bail you should pay through a bail schedule or bail hearing, you must deposit it to exit custody. The acceptable bail payment options are:
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Cash Bail
When you have liquid funds available to pay the full bail figure, you can use the cash bail option. Unfortunately, many defendants are from low-income backgrounds and do not have the money available or assets and savings to liquidate to raise the funds. Even those who can afford it often choose not to pay, as doing so could leave them with severe financial constraints.
The court refunds the money after the close of the case. However, there are no guarantees; the refund depends on your compliance with the court-imposed bail conditions.
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Property Bond
If you do not have liquid money or you are having problems liquidating your assets to post bail, you can use the property or valuable item as security for the bond. This is what is called a property bond. You surrender a lien on your property to the court to act as collateral for the pretrial release. Once the case ends successfully, the court releases the lien on the property, restoring full ownership.
However, the challenge is that bail forfeiture could result in the loss of your property. Also, it takes a long time to appraise the property and prove ownership, which delays your release.
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Partnering with a Bail Bonds Service
If you cannot afford cash bail or a property bond or want to avoid the challenges associated with these bail options, you should enlist the services of a reputable Camp Pendleton bail bonds firm. Typically, these bail experts will deposit a surety bond with the court promising to pay the full bail if you are released and fail to return to court. Your Camp Pendleton bail bonds service becomes responsible for your future court appearances.
In exchange for assuming this responsibility, you pay the company a nonrefundable bail premium of around 10% of the full bail. Based on your choice of a Camp Pendleton bail bonds firm, you, the cosigner, could be required to put up collateral to secure the surety bond deposited on the defendant’s behalf. If the defendant defaults, the company can sell the collateral to recover the funds it loses paying your full bail.
When you pay cash bail, the authorities, including the prosecutor, the police, or the judge, can label it as suspicious and request the court to put it on hold until you can prove the funds used were not feloniously obtained. The hold draws scrutiny to your finances and delays your release pending the hearing. Suspicious bail holds are necessary because if you used proceeds of crime to secure freedom, there will be little to no incentive for you to appear in court, because you are not afraid of losing the funds.
Therefore, when you face charges for certain offenses, like drug crimes or white-collar crimes, it is often advisable to use a bail bondsman instead of paying cash to avoid raising suspicions about the source of the money. The court will not have suspicions that the funds from the Camp Pendleton bail bonds service are feloniously obtained, streamlining your release.
Possible Outcomes When you Violate Bail Terms
There are several options for bail violation. The judge can:
- Issue a warning
- Issue a warrant for your arrest
- Revoke your bail and have you re-arrested
- Retain bail but impose additional or more stringent conditions
- Increase the bail amount you need to regain freedom after being rearrested
- Hold you in contempt of court
The judge’s decision hinges on the gravity of your violation. If you committed a minor contravention of the release terms, the judge can let you off with a warning. However, when you engage in a grave breach of the conditions, such as witness intimidation, you risk a bail revocation.
Missing court without justification and failing to explain your situation to the court when given the chance to resolve the matter could result in bail revocation. First, the judge will order your arrest for failing to appear. The warrant for your arrest remains active until you are in police custody.
FTA is a misdemeanor charge in California. Therefore, in addition to being rearrested and having your bail revoked, you will face an additional misdemeanor charge, the conviction of which carries a maximum sentence of six months in jail.
After a bail revocation, if you had paid cash, you would forfeit all the funds to the court. If you relied on a Camp Pendleton bail bonds firm for your freedom, the company will pay the court your full bail. When this happens, you will owe the bail bondsman the full bail amount. The experts will exercise their rights over the collateral to recover the funds lost under the surety bond.
Your bail bondsman will do everything possible to ensure you appear to avoid bail bond forfeiture. They will maintain contact, especially on scheduled court dates, to ensure you appear. If you have an emergency that prevents you from attending court, you must inform the bail bondsman early so that they can notify the court in advance.
Valid Reasons for Missing Court
The standard arguments you can make to justify your absence in court or to defend the FTA charges include:
- You had an emergency
- Skipping court was unintentional
- There was no signed agreement between you and the court to attend
- Missing a court hearing was not intended to evade the California justice system
Ignoring the court date because you believe you are innocent, do not feel like attending court, or have other commitments, are not justifiable reasons for skipping court.
Hiring a Responsive Camp Pendleton Bail Bonds Firm
When a loved one calls you from behind bars to notify you of an arrest, you want them released immediately. However, not every company claiming to offer quality bail bonds can be trusted with your loved one's pretrial freedom. You must partner with a credible and responsible company or bail bondsman.
One crucial tip for hiring is to consider the availability of the bail professionals. Arrests happen when you least expect them. So, you want them to be available 24/7 to start working on the defendant’s release immediately.
Another consideration you should make is the customer service. You want to work with a compassionate, courteous, and respectful bail bondsman to navigate this difficult period. Rude or disrespectful bail bondsmen will make the process even more challenging. So, contact the companies you are considering and pay attention to how they respond to questions or phone calls, and select the experts with the best customer service.
Similarly, consider the company’s reputation to gauge the kind of service you will receive. You can read customer reviews online or request a reference list from the company to speak with former clients and understand their experience with the bail bondsmen.
Jail Information
George F Bailey Detention
446 Alta Road #5300
San Diego, CA 92158
Court Information
San Diego Superior Court
1100 Union Street
San Diego, CA 92101
Find a Responsive Bail Bondsman Near Me
With current economic constraints, having liquid funds to pay bail after an unexpected arrest can be challenging. Even if the money is available, you want to save it for the bills due to the high cost of living. If you are in this position, you should contact a Camp Pendleton bail bondsman to provide the financial support you need to exit custody. At Fausto’s Bail Bonds, we provide quality bail bond services for affordable, fast pretrial release. Contact us today at 951-445-4455 to discuss the bail process.