After several days spent pondering evidence from a bizarre, nearly three-hour-long hearing that almost amounted to a “mini-trial”, Florida Circuit Court Judge Kenneth Lester Jr. has granted indicted slayer George Zimmerman release from the Seminole County Jail if he can come up with bail of a million dollars. The prosecution had sought to have him held without bail after he lied about his financial circumstances.

It was not immediately clear how long it would take the 28-year-old Zimmerman to arrange his release.Defense attorney Mark O’Mara said that Zimmerman’s legal defense fund had a balance of $211,000, more than enough to cover the 10-percent non-refundable portion charged by most bonding companies.

Zimmerman has been charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 26 slaying of Trayvon Martin, the 17-year-old Miami Gardens boy who was living out a week’s school suspension at his father’s girlfriend’s apartment in Sanford, a central Florida city of 54,000. The case became a matter of nationwide fury and international headlines after police failed to arrest—and the Seminole County prosecutor failed to charge—Zimmerman. All the attention has put the spotlight on self-defense laws, racial profiling and criminal-justice in general.

O’Mara barely touched on the key issue surrounding the hearing—why Zimmerman had lied to obtain low bail. He sought instead to paper over that issue and rouse sympathy for his client by justifying the action that landed him in jail in the first place. He said Zimmerman had concealed the significant amount of money he had acquired through a defense fund website because he feared for his life.

Bail may be automatically denied for several penal code violations, including murder and a prior escape from jail or prison. However, bail may also be denied for a host of other reasons. When a person is arrested and taken to jail and booked, the person will have to stay in jail while he or she awaits his or her trial. If a judge reviews the case and decides that there is a reasonable chance that the defendant will return to court to stand trial for a crime and also believes that upon release, the individual will not pose a threat to society, then the judge will set a bail for the individual.

When a judge goes about setting a bail for a person, the first thing he or she will look at is the nature of the crime. The crime will have an assumptive bail rate associated with it. For penal code violation 187, which is murder, there is no bail, unless there are special circumstances. The special circumstances might warrant a bail rate that begins at $1 million.

For penal code violations 4532a and b, which are escape and attempted escape from prison with or without force or violence, there is not bail allowed. However, if an inmate violates penal codes 4532a or b, which is escape or attempted escape by a misdemeanant, inebriate, or person on work furlough from a jail or an industrial farm, the person will not receive bail if he or she had been convicted. However, if the person had not been convicted, he or she may receive a bail of $100,000, in addition to the bail amount that was posted on the original charge.

The judge might also deny bail for a number of other reasons. For example, if you have already stated to an arresting office or a representative of the pretrial release program that you do not intend to return to court to stand trial for your accused crime, then the judge may not grant your bail. Also, if your crime is so offensive that you could be a threat to civilians if you were released, the judge might also deny your bail, even if there is an assumptive bail amount associated with your offence. Such is the case when a defendant could possibly pose a threat to his victim.

Here’s a compilation of a few terms, (and the meanings of these terms,) you might hear if you’re applying for bail.
Bail-Point Scale-
Bail-point scale refers to a system for determining a criminal defendant’s eligibility for bail. Under a bail-point scale, a defendant either will be released on personal recognizance, or have a bail amount set. (According to the total number of points given.) However, a bail-point scale is given based on the defendant’s background and behavior.

 Bail Forfeiture-
Bail forfeiture refers to an order issued by a court demanding a surety to pay the amount pledged as security, for the reason that the accused failed to fulfill the requirements contained in a bail bond. The amount that is paid by the surety under bail forfeiture will be transferred to the court in whose jurisdiction the laws are violated.

Bail forfeiture occurs when a court appearance is missed. Generally an accused arrested for most misdemeanor and non-violent crimes can be released on bail pending case, if s/he furnishes security for his/her release. The security is originally a guarantee for his/her appearance before the court on future dates. In case the accused fails to appear before court the bail will be forfeited and the security will be released to the possession of the court without the possibility of repayment.

 Bail Piece-
Bail piece refers to a document recording the nature of the bail which is granted to a defendant in a civil action. Generally, a bail piece is filed with a court. It is usually signed by the defendant’s sureties. A bail piece is not simply an authority for arrest, but is considered a evidence of the relationship between the parties.

A bail piece is an instrument whereby, the bail have a right to demand of the officer taking the recognizance, stating that the principal is delivered to the bail. It is the evidence of their right to his/her custody; it is delivered to them, and not filed in court, unless upon a surrender of the principal. i.e.[Elliott v. Dudley, 8 Mich. 62, 65 (Mich. 1860)].

 Bail Skipping/Bail Jumpers-
People are released on bail with the understanding that they will attend court on an appointed date to face trial. Bail skipping is a practice in which an offender released on bail fails to appear at the court specified place and time without any lawful excuse. Such practice is often resorted to in an attempt to avoid trial and conviction. Bail skipping is also known as bail jumping. An arrest warrant is issued in the name of an offender who skips bail.

In cases where an offender released on bail fails to show up for a court appearance, the judge can issue a warrant for the bail jumper’s arrest. Some jurisdictions allow bail bondsmen to hire bounty hunters in the event of a bail jumping. Bounty hunters trace bail skippers and bring them in on the warrant in exchange for a fee.

 Fugitive Recovery-
The bail fugitive recovery person refers to a person who tracks down criminal defendants who fail to show up in court after a bond company has posted their bail. S/he has written authorization by a bail agent, surety to arrest a fugitive. S/he is contracted to investigate, surveil, locate, and arrest a bail fugitive for surrender to appropriate authorities, or any person employed to assist in the arrest of such a fugitive.

Loan sharks are people who lend money at exorbitant interest rates, especially one financed and supported by an organized crime network. Loan sharks illegally lend money to people who are in desperate need for a loan. Loan shark victims have often been turned down by other money lenders, or need quick emergency cash. It becomes easy for you to get further into debt, when you make a decision to get the assistance of a loan shark. You may not know what you are dealing with at the beginning, but a loan shark can get brutal in many cases. People end up getting bruised both physically and mentally because of them. Then, people tend to go to these loan sharks when they are in urgent need of money.

Many people initially agree to the terms provided by loan sharks because they are desperately in need for cash. When you take one of these illegal loans, you are being charged with exorbitant fees that makes it difficult to pay it back. In some cases, people are forced to take out a second loan in order to pay the fees from the first one. A loan shark may begin to threaten or bully you when you fail to repay their payments.

If you want to avoid loan sharks, you should watch out for assured fees. These fees may include early repayment fees, late repayment fees, membership fees, bounced check fees, debit fees, or collateral requirements. Advance fees are no doubt illegal, so you should never pay any fees when you apply for a loan. You should not give questionable lenders direct access to your checking account and make sure to read each and every condition of all contracts. In order to avoid loan sharks, there are pay advance lenders who offer safe and confidential ways to obtain a pay advance loan.

The real aim of a loan shark is to keep their customers forever in debt so that the interest for the sharks can increase day by day. Today, loan sharking tends to be associated crime, and the typical loan shark is often thought to be a gangster who extorts repayment of the debt with threats of physical violence. Such loan sharks do exist in this world. Loan sharks tend to multiply in big cities where there are large numbers of wage workers with regular paydays, but humble salaries. These lenders functioned out of cheap storefront offices and catered especially to government employees, factory hands, and office clerks.

So if you were considering a loan shark to pay your bail, do yourself a favor, turn away NOW! You may already feel like you’ve gone off the deep end. But a loan shark will only drag you under. 1Hour-Bail-Bonds can help you even if you think your already in too deep. So give us a call we’d be glad to lend you a hand.

Bail jumping is an activity in which someone who has been released on bail attempts to evade a court appearance with the goal of avoiding a trial, possible conviction, and sentence. Bail jumping is also known as bail skipping. When someone skips bail, she or he gives up the amount paid in bail, and a warrant will be issued for the bail jumper’s arrest.

When people are released on bail, they are done so with the understanding that they will attend court on an appointed date to face trial. People are released on bail so that they do not have to sit in jail waiting trial, and to allow them to go about their daily business until the trial occurs. Usually, conditions are set with bail. In addition to paying the bail itself, the accused may be required to stay in the area, to refrain from associating with certain people, and so forth.

If someone released on bail fails to show up for a court appearance, the judge can issue a warrant for the bail jumper’s arrest. Because bail is often provided by a bail bondsman who puts up the bail in exchange for the understanding that the money will be returned when the accused attends court, some regions allow bail bondsmen to hire bounty hunters in the event of a bail jumping. The bounty hunter tracks down the person who evaded bail to bring them in on the warrant in exchange for a fee.

If it becomes clear that someone is taking steps to avoid a court date, he or she can be accused of bail jumping before the actual date. For example, if someone books plane tickets out of the country with a flight scheduled to depart shortly before the scheduled court appearance, it is clear that the accused is planning on bail jumping. In cases such as these, the accused may be jailed to await trial.

Bail jumping is not in the best interests of the accused. In addition to forfeiting the amount of bail, the accused also faces additional charges for attempting to evade court. If someone wants to delay a trial or feels that a trial will not be fair in a given venue, he or she should discuss the issue with a lawyer to see if an agreement can be reached. Accused criminals are entitled to due process of law, which includes accommodations such as a change of venue if it is believed that a trial cannot be conducted fairly in the originally scheduled location.

When a person is arrested, he or she may have the opportunity to pay bail. This is a payment that the arrested person may be able to make to the court in order to leave jail until trial. The payment is a way that the court can help ensure that the accused will appear at any future court dates. In some cases, the amount of bail may be more than the accused can pay by him or herself. In these cases, bail bonds may be useful since they allow people to pay some percentage of their bail — often 10% — with a bail bonding agency putting up the rest. Courts typically refund the original bail amount if the accused shows up for all of his or her court dates. Since that amount goes to the agency that posted bail for the accused, in cases that go well, the agency gets its money back and keeps the percentage put up by the accused as its profit.

Depending on the crime, bail may be determined by a preset schedule or in a bail hearing. In some cases, this hearing may be combined with an arraignment, when the judge hears the charges and asks the detainee to enter a plea. In order to create a financial incentive to return to court voluntarily, courts routinely ask for bail money commensurate with the seriousness of the charges. For many people, the amount of bail set is higher than they can pay easily. It’s set a low enough amount to be worth putting it up to avoid more jail time but also it’s also high enough to want it all back by going to future courts dates.

If the accused cannot come up with bail, he or she might ask a bail bonds person for help. In this case, the accused will put up a percentage of the bail and the bail bonds person will put up the rest. In this way, bail bonds are surety bonds used to guarantee the entire bail amount if the accused party fails to maintain the terms of his or her release.

Bail bonds can be obtained in most areas of the United States 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. When a person is released on bond, he usually has more opportunity to provide for his family or prepare for the upcoming court dates. Bail bonds also help reduce overcrowding and lower costs as there are fewer people that a jail must house and feed.

Bail bonds are generally issued by private bail bonding agencies and their fees are usually non-refundable. Most bonding agencies also require collateral; by paying the bail for the accused, the agency is taking the risk that he or she might not show up to court, forfeiting the bail. Collateral helps ensure that the bonding agency recovers its money. When the accused does appear in court and bail is refunded, the agency returns the collateral, but keeps any fees.

The concept of bail bonds for the release of jailed individuals is generally limited to the United States. Many other countries have other methods for creating financial or moral incentives for accused parties to appear in court. Most states in the US allow private bail bonds, and every state has its own laws concerning fees charged by bonding agencies.