When a person is arrested and charged with a crime, the court sets bail before the person can be released before trial. In many cases, a court may decrease the amount required for bail or may permit pre-trial electronic monitoring. In the overwhelming majority of cases, private attorneys don’t appear at the preliminary arraignment when bail is set. The important thing to remember is that bail isn’t given to a defendant as a gift or as a way for a court to show mercy but is actually a requirement under the US and Pennsylvania constitutions. In other words: Defendants have the right to bail.
Preliminary Arraignment
When a magistrate or judge sets bail, they consider. certain factors. Those factors include the severity of the offense, the defendant’s criminal record, the defendant’s history of showing up to court on time, the defendant’s risk of going on the run, and the defendant’s abilty to pay.
Although defendants have a constitutionally protected right to bail, that is a right that can be taken away under very specific circumstances. For example, the Pennsylvania Constitution says that a person who was charged with homicide cannot be released on bail. If the defendant hasn’t been charged with homicide, there are very specific and high standards of what the prosecution must show before a court can deny the defendant’s right to bail.
Motions to Modify Bail
Extradition Bail
Appeal Bail
Frequently Asked Questions about bail in Pennsylvania?
What can be done if the court sets bail so high that a person can’t afford it?
The interesting part about the right to bail is that it doesn’t mean that a judge is allowed to set bail at an extraordinarily high level. The constitutional right to bail includes the right to reasonable bail. That means that a judge generally can’t set $1,000,000 bail in a case where a first-time offender has done something like shoplift a pack of gum from the grocery store. The constitution requires that the bail be proportionate and reasonable.
If a person is being detained for a probation or parole violation, can or should that person ask for a bail hearing?
If the person is only being held in jail on that detainer, then there won’t be a way to get bail. That person will have to file a motion to lift the detainer.
What is an appeal bail for?
In some cases, a defendant is presumed to have the right to be out on bail while their appeal is pending. This is something that the defendant will need to ask for. In cases where the defendant was sentenced to a maximum of more than two years plus one day in jail, they won’t get that presumption that they are entitled to bail. But, the judge in the case has the authority or power to put the person on bail while the defendant completes the appeal.
Do appeal bails apply to someone who is in the middle of doing a PCRA?
No.