The American Bar Association recommends that jurisdictions notify crime victims when the person charged with an offense has been released on bail or bond. However, some offenses are essential without a victim. Drug possession is a primary example. These defendants make up a large percentage of people being held in jail before trial. They may seek help from Bail Bond Services in Oklahoma if they cannot afford to pay cash bail.
An Example
When the crime is not a violent one, and there are no victims, one might think that the defendant should be released on his or her recognizance without having to pay bail. That often is not the case, however. Depending on the jurisdiction, an automatic bail schedule might set bail prohibitively high for someone with a certain amount of cocaine or heroin for personal use only. Bail Bond Services in Oklahoma can help by posting a surety bond for a percentage of the cash bail.
Delaying Pleading Guilty
Being freed as soon as possible allows the person to avoid feeling compelled to accept a plea bargain from the prosecution too quickly. A plea bargain can be arranged even before the preliminary hearing, but that hearing can be extremely important for the defendant. This is when a judge decides whether there is probable cause for the case to be brought to trial. If not, the case is dismissed, or the charges dropped.
Surety Bonds
A surety bond posted by an agency such as A Absolute Bail Bonds is intended to substitute for cash bail and guarantee the person will appear in court as scheduled. Despite the publicity given to situations in which a defendant disappeared and had to be tracked down by a bounty hunter, the vast majority of defendants do not flee.
When a family is anxiously waiting for a judge to set bail, they may want to learn more about a particular bail bonds agency by checking out its Facebook page. This gives them a good sense of how people in the community feel about the company and how responsive the agents have been to past clients’ problems.
