So for example, a guy murders people, gets arrested and a bail is set for 5 million dollars. Does the guy walk off if the bail is paid? plz 🙂
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The bail is not returned if the accused does not show up for trial. So it’s a monetary (or property) promise that you’ll show up for trial. An incentive not to jump bail, if you will.
The bail is not returned if the accused does not show up for trial. So it’s a monetary (or property) promise that you’ll show up for trial. An incentive not to jump bail, if you will.
The money is like a security deposit that is meant to ensure that they have a good incentive to return for their court date. If they don’t, they don’t get their bail back. Hence bail bondsmen existing.
It is important to note, you talk about a guy murdering people, but in most developed countries, there is a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt, so it’s not murderers getting bail, just defendants not proven guilty yet.
The money is like a security deposit that is meant to ensure that they have a good incentive to return for their court date. If they don’t, they don’t get their bail back. Hence bail bondsmen existing.
It is important to note, you talk about a guy murdering people, but in most developed countries, there is a presumption of innocence until guilt is proven beyond reasonable doubt, so it’s not murderers getting bail, just defendants not proven guilty yet.
If there was no such thing as bail, when you got arrested you’d have to sit in jail waiting for trial and all throughout the trial. The idea behind bail is that since you haven’t been found guilty yet, what if we could let you go home and wait for trial.
But what if you escaped justice by just not showing up for your trial? That’s no good. So we need some way to ensure that you’ll show up. So we make you give the court some amount of money. If you don’t show up, the money is forfeit. Since it’s your money or a family member’s money you’ll want to show up in court. Once the trial is over, you get the money back.
The more likely the court thinks you are to run – the more bail they ask for
The more heinous the crime, the more bail they ask for (the reasoning here is that the worse your crime, the worst the punishment will be. So you might be willing to throw away a lot of money if it means you won’t go to jail for decades)
If there was no such thing as bail, when you got arrested you’d have to sit in jail waiting for trial and all throughout the trial. The idea behind bail is that since you haven’t been found guilty yet, what if we could let you go home and wait for trial.
But what if you escaped justice by just not showing up for your trial? That’s no good. So we need some way to ensure that you’ll show up. So we make you give the court some amount of money. If you don’t show up, the money is forfeit. Since it’s your money or a family member’s money you’ll want to show up in court. Once the trial is over, you get the money back.
The more likely the court thinks you are to run – the more bail they ask for
The more heinous the crime, the more bail they ask for (the reasoning here is that the worse your crime, the worst the punishment will be. So you might be willing to throw away a lot of money if it means you won’t go to jail for decades)
Bail is not a fine. It’s not something you pay to get out of criminal charges. Bail is collateral that you pay to remain out of jail while your criminal case is pending as assurance that you will come back to court. In other words, it’s money you put up to not be in jail while you wait trial with the promise that you will actually show up to court. If you show up, you get your money back. If you don’t, you forfeit that money and you’ll be a fugitive with an arrest warrant.
Different jurisdictions have different bail rules, but generally, the more serious the crime, or the more prior arrests/convictions you have, the higher your bail amount will be, or you might not even be offered bail. For a first time offender charged with a minor crime, you might be offered a few hundred or a few thousand dollar bail. For serious felonies or a person with multiple prior arrests or convictions, you might not be offered bail at all and you’ll simply be held in jail until and during your trial.
Bail is not a fine. It’s not something you pay to get out of criminal charges. Bail is collateral that you pay to remain out of jail while your criminal case is pending as assurance that you will come back to court. In other words, it’s money you put up to not be in jail while you wait trial with the promise that you will actually show up to court. If you show up, you get your money back. If you don’t, you forfeit that money and you’ll be a fugitive with an arrest warrant.
Different jurisdictions have different bail rules, but generally, the more serious the crime, or the more prior arrests/convictions you have, the higher your bail amount will be, or you might not even be offered bail. For a first time offender charged with a minor crime, you might be offered a few hundred or a few thousand dollar bail. For serious felonies or a person with multiple prior arrests or convictions, you might not be offered bail at all and you’ll simply be held in jail until and during your trial.
In the US people who are accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty. However if you arrest someone for a crime and they are charged, there is an often significant period of time between their arrest and giving them a trial. During this period of time the person likely wants to avoid sitting around in jail, but there is a risk that if they are let free they won’t show back up for their trial. Bail is a way to hopefully ensure people show up for their court date, and it is an amount of money deposited with the court which they will get back if they return for their trial. If they don’t come back they don’t get their money back.
If someone is arrested for murder they might not get bail at all, considering it is very likely they will attempt to flee. But if they are offered bail they can pay the full amount themselves and go free until their court date. If they don’t show up they lose their bail money and are still subject to arrest and trial when they are eventually found. If they show up they get their money back in full.
If they can’t afford to pay the full amount of the bail then they can borrow the money from a bail bondsman. They will charge usually 10% of the bail amount and will provide the amount to the court in their stead. If the person shows up to court the bondsman gets their money back but the accused doesn’t get their 10% back, it is kept as a fee for the loan. If the person *doesn’t* show up to court then the bondsman isn’t getting their money back, unless they can find the person and deliver them to the court. That is where bounty hunters come in, people employed by the bondman to find these delinquent accused and deliver them to the court so the bondsman can get their money back.
In the US people who are accused of a crime are innocent until proven guilty. However if you arrest someone for a crime and they are charged, there is an often significant period of time between their arrest and giving them a trial. During this period of time the person likely wants to avoid sitting around in jail, but there is a risk that if they are let free they won’t show back up for their trial. Bail is a way to hopefully ensure people show up for their court date, and it is an amount of money deposited with the court which they will get back if they return for their trial. If they don’t come back they don’t get their money back.
If someone is arrested for murder they might not get bail at all, considering it is very likely they will attempt to flee. But if they are offered bail they can pay the full amount themselves and go free until their court date. If they don’t show up they lose their bail money and are still subject to arrest and trial when they are eventually found. If they show up they get their money back in full.
If they can’t afford to pay the full amount of the bail then they can borrow the money from a bail bondsman. They will charge usually 10% of the bail amount and will provide the amount to the court in their stead. If the person shows up to court the bondsman gets their money back but the accused doesn’t get their 10% back, it is kept as a fee for the loan. If the person *doesn’t* show up to court then the bondsman isn’t getting their money back, unless they can find the person and deliver them to the court. That is where bounty hunters come in, people employed by the bondman to find these delinquent accused and deliver them to the court so the bondsman can get their money back.
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