Arrests are typically followed by booking and processing. After you are officially charged with a criminal violation, you are presented before the court for bail determination based on your case’s facts. Alternatively, the police officer handling your case can refer to the San Diego County bail schedule to establish the bail imposed against your charge. Bail guarantees your pretrial discharge. Unfortunately, like many defendants, you could lack funds for bail. A San Marcos bail bond service like Fausto’s Bail Bonds can deposit a bond for you at a reasonable fee. The bail bondsman will fill out the forms and ensure a prompt release awaiting standing trial at an affordable cost.
Calculating San Marcos Bail Bonds
As much as you desperately want to regain your liberty, you should not spend all your savings so that you are left with no money for legal fees or essential needs like food after exiting jail. The bail bond is an instrument that helps lower the cost of bail, enabling you to regain freedom without draining your pockets. With San Marcos bail bonds, you only deposit a premium fee, typically 10% of the bail. After the deposit, your bail bondsman speaks to the court and deposits a bond, which assures the court that they will pay full bail when you breach court conditions for the pretrial discharge.
Estimating the money you require to purchase a San Marcos bail bond is easy. When your bail is $20,000, multiply the figure by 10% to obtain the cost of your San Marcos bail bonds. The price is $2,000. So, instead of draining all your bank accounts to pay $20,000, you only pay $2,000 to obtain liberty temporarily. You can save money by hiring a private attorney to help you fight the charges and pay your bills.
The cost of bail bonds depends on the amount set for the offense and whether your company offers discounts.
Dangers of Not Posting Bail
After bail is set, you can stay in custody until the case concludes or post bail to reunite with your family. The factors determining your bail are your case's gravity, criminal record, the threat to the public, and history of pretrial release conditions violations. Unless the court denies you bail for serious offenses like murder, you should pay bail to leave jail as you foresee your criminal proceeding.
Remaining in jail because you cannot afford bail affects many aspects of your life. Your criminal hearing can take months or years to conclude. Your employer will likely discharge you from your duties after a few weeks or months of skipping work. As a result of being in jail, you will lose your job and income. If you have a family depending on you for financial support, they will have financial difficulties because you failed to post bail.
Also, you cannot afford a private attorney while in jail. You will depend on a public defender who is handling multiple cases simultaneously. Your case will not have the required attention, increasing the chances of a guilty verdict. However, when you secure release using San Marcos bail bonds, you will have time to work and afford a private attorney. Besides, you will have sufficient time to discuss the case’s facts and change the case’s narrative in your favor. When you are out of jail, the prosecutor cannot delay the case or pressure you into pleading guilty.
Remaining in detention also could hurt your case when you talk to the wrong people. Do not discuss your charges with fellow detainees, staff, or wardens. These people could gather evidence for the prosecutor, and examining your case could give them the information they need to strengthen their case. Nonetheless, if you are out of jail, the chances of you making incriminating statements that the prosecutor could use against you are minimal.
Another disadvantage of staying behind bars to foresee your criminal proceeding is that you could suffer physical and mental harm. Prisons and jails have security measures to protect inmates, but this does not prevent cases of sexual abuse, harassment, and jail fights.
Apart from the physical harm, jails are emotionally draining, considering you will be away from your loved ones for months or years. Also, the lack of freedom, lack of privacy, and limited time outside all contribute to emotional distress. Staying behind bars can also lead to stress and anxiety. Constant stress lowers your immunity, increasing the chances of developing severe illnesses that could put your life at risk.
Therefore, when you lack funds for bail, do not agree to remain in jail awaiting your criminal hearing because the stay will do more harm. Your San Marcos bail bonds can finance your liberty pending trial at a small fee to avoid the dangers of being in jail without being pronounced guilty.
Terminating YourCosigner Duties
When a loved one is behind bars, they often require someone they trust to deal with the bail bondsman. The person who signs the contract for the inmate to exit jail is an indemnitor or cosigner. Accepting being an arrestee’s cosigner is easy, considering you do not want a loved one or friend to stay in jail. When you become a cosigner, you agree to be responsible for the arrestee's actions and must ensure they abide by all pretrial discharge conditions, including appearing for criminal hearings.
If the arrestee violates the court terms, the court could cancel the bail, meaning the bail bondsman will lose their money. To recoup these losses, the company seizes and auctions the assets or property utilized as collateral. Therefore, a violation of release terms by the defendant means you lose your property. Luckily, the contract with the bail bondsman allows you to withdraw from the agreement if you believe the person you are indemnifying intends to breach the release terms. The instances when you can cancel your duties include:
- When you reasonably believe the defendant wants to miss criminal proceedings or commit a crime. Under these circumstances, you must terminate your role to avoid losing property used as collateral.
- The indemnitor role is causing you emotional distress because you utilize your home or vehicle as collateral and are afraid of losing it.
- You have fallen out with the defendant, possibly because of their conduct relating to the case
You relieve yourself of the indemnitor duties by notifying the San Marcos bail bonds that you want to terminate your responsibilities towards the accused. Because the court is also part of the agreement, the company will notify the judge handling the case of your plans to withdraw from the role. Once the court is notified, the contract becomes null, and the defendant will be rearrested and placed in jail until they can find another company to finance their liberty.
You should always speak to the defendant before indemnifying their bail bond. The defendant could pay the cost of the bail bond. So, if they can deposit the premium fee and use their property as collateral, but with your help, then you can avoid this enormous responsibility. Talk to the detainee before you start their pretrial release procedure to ensure that you assume the indemnitor role when they cannot afford the fees for the services or lack collateral.
Even when you sign the contract as a cosigner, you should take measures to safeguard yourself. These measures include:
- Introducing terms in the contract requiring the defendant to enroll and finish a drug treatment program or anger management lessons. If they do not do so, you will terminate your role.
- Requiring the defendant to pay all the money spent in securing their release and failing to do so will see you terminate your duties.
- Always be aware of the accused person’s whereabouts once they regain freedom
Consequences of Breaching Bail Terms
One primary bail condition the court imposes is attending all criminal hearings. When you skip scheduled hearings, you violate bail terms. The consequences for the violation are severe because they attract additional charges for failure to appear. Besides, not attending criminal proceedings hurts your cases and convinces the judge or jury that you committed the alleged offenses.
When you violate bail terms, the court gives your San Marcos bail bonds firm time to find you and bring you in court. If they are unsuccessful after some time, the court issues a bench warrant for your arrest. The company then sends a bounty hunter after you to find you and present you in court. If arrested, chances are that the court will deny you bail for the second charge until the case concludes.
PEN 1320.5 makes skipping court a felony punishable by court monetary fines of no more than $10,000 and, at most, twelve months of jail incarceration. These penalties are imposed on those of the baseline offense that led to jumping bail.
Sometimes, you can miss scheduled criminal hearings for legitimate or bona fide reasons. If you present yourself in court within six months of the skipped hearing, the court will not cancel your bail. Genuine reasons for skipping court include:
- Being admitted to the hospital with an illness
- An emergency
- An unavoidable natural calamity
If your reasons for skipping bail are the conviction that you are not guilty or do not feel like attending court, the judge will revoke your bail.
Online Bail Bonds
Your choice of a San Marcos bail bonds company should enable you to access their services from any location and make payments online without needing a physical visit to their office. A company with an online bail platform simplifies the pretrial discharge procedure because all you must do after learning of the arrest of a loved one is to log in to the company’s website and complete the entire process from the comfort of your home.
You can pay for the services through Bitcoin, Venmo, a debit card, Paypal, or cash. Besides, paying for online services via cash is possible, but you will require guidance from the bail bondsman on how to do it.
There are several benefits to completing the process online. First, you can sign the contracts online through e-signature. This takes only a few minutes. Once you sign the paperwork, the company finalizes the release process.
Similarly, the payment options are seamless. You can pay through various modes that make money transfer quick. Several payment options mean you are not limited in the work to pay for the services.
Also, you can complete the entire process with your phone or computer at night or during holidays. This ensures prompt discharge because once you complete the paperwork and pay money, the bail bondsman will start working on the release. You do not have to wait for working hours to regain liberty.
Action to Take After Arrest
Many contend between hiring a San Marcos bail bonds firm or a criminal attorney. You should employ both if the funds are available. Sadly, many people do not have the funds for this must-choose one.
Hiring an attorney is beneficial because it will build a solid case, guide the defendant through court processes, and obtain a favorable outcome. In contrast, a bail bondsman helps the defendant exit jail pending a criminal trial. The defendant has a better chance of fighting the chances if they have freedom. Therefore, you should prioritize hiring a company to finance the defendant’s release. Once they have freedom, they can find resources to hire an attorney; if they cannot, the court will appoint a public defender.
Partnering with a criminal lawyer does not guarantee freedom. Even if the court grants bail, you could be forced to remain in jail until the conclusion of your case. However, bail bondsmen first ensure you are out of jail, and once you resume your routines, you can plan better for trial, increasing your chances of defeating the charges. Besides, with freedom, you are less likely to agree on an unfavorable plea deal.
Jail and Court Info
Vista Detention Facility
324 S. Melrose Drive, #200
Vista, CA, 92081
North County Courthouse
325 South Melrose
Vista, CA, 92101
Find a Reliable Bail Bondsman Near Me
If you choose not to use San Marcos bail bonds, you must deposit full bail for your freedom. Nonetheless, when you hire a company to finance the release, you only pay a fraction of bail to regain liberty, meaning you can save money for use after leaving jail, including paying your bills and retaining the services of an attorney. At Fausto’s Bail Bonds, we can assist you in overcoming challenges brought about by bail. Call us at 951-445-4455 to start working on your release.