June 22 – While some residents were puzzled by bonds ranging from $30,000 for murder to more than $1 million for drug trafficking, Morgan County judges spoke to The Decatur Daily to explain the sometimes challenging process of balancing constitutional rights of a suspect with the safety of the community.
“I think it’s a misconception of the public that we’re taking sides,” Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell said. “Our job is not to take sides. While you’re balancing the safety of the community, you’re also balancing that person’s constitutional right to bond. And so, you know, that’s a tricky balance .”
Alabama courts generally follow the bail schedule established by the Alabama Supreme Court and published in Rule 7.2 of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure. The schedule sets a recommended range for bail amounts based on the severity of the offense.
For example, the minimum bail recommended for murder is $15,000, while the maximum recommended bail is “no bail permitted.”
The recommended minimum bail for drug trafficking is $5,000, with a maximum of $1.5 million.
The recommended minimum bail for all misdemeanors is $300, while the maximum for a Class A misdemeanor is recommended at $6,000.
According to Howell, judges usually don’t even set bail. When a police officer books a suspect into jail, the officer then appears before a magistrate to take an affidavit (the officer’s account of the crime) and obtain an arrest warrant.
“As long as they set the minimum (bond), they don’t have to go through the judge’s office,” Howell explained.
From there, a copy of the warrant and affidavit is sent to Circuit Clerk Chris Priest’s office, the documents are placed into the computer system and the suspect is assigned a case number. Howell said defendants sometimes post bail before their paperwork even arrives at the courthouse.
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Officer’s input
“If a person is arrested and maybe the officer knows this person’s history, maybe they know they’re already out, maybe it’s just a particularly bad set of facts – whatever reason – an officer can call us and say: “Hey judge, let me tell you why I don’t think minimum bail is appropriate.” And then we can set it up.”
For example, Howell said she recently set a $100,000 bond for a man accused of drug trafficking because he was already out on bond for a drug offense.
For several weeks, Howell receives no requests to increase a defendant’s bond; other weeks she might get six or more.
“I would definitely say it especially happens when it involves a lot of drugs, or really bad offenses, or somewhere where the police just keep arresting this person,” she said.
If a suspect is arrested on the street, his case first goes to court.
“Between the time of arrest and the thirty-day period, they have the right to request a preliminary hearing,” said Morgan County Judge Shelly Waters. “They can also ask for a bond reduction at that time. If they ask for a bond reduction, I usually send Community Corrections to do a preliminary release review, which gives me some background information.
“If he’s 30 and this is his first offense, or if he’s been offending since he was 18, sometimes that shows a pattern and practice.”
Waters said the district attorney sometimes agrees to a self-recognizance (OR) bond for a suspect, which means the suspect does not have to pay a fee to be released from jail, but must report through Community Corrections under the supervision of the preliminary investigation.
“As long as they do what they need to do, they’re good to go,” Waters said. “Comply with any alcohol or drug tests they request. Make sure you don’t get any new charges. Basically just be a good person.”
From that point on, the defendants will remain free on bail until, or if, they are indicted by a grand jury. Typically, they remain on the same bond after arraignment, Waters said.
Sometimes a suspect’s case goes directly to a grand jury, and they are not arrested until charges are filed. In such scenarios, the case bypasses the district court and goes straight to the circuit court.
Waters said she sometimes grants OR bonds, especially for felonies and especially if the suspect has been in jail for a week or two.
“People are entitled to bail before sentencing,” she said. “And the purpose of the bond is to ensure their presence in court and to protect the public, not to be punitive. That would be in strict violation of the Constitution.”
There are a few different ways to get out on bail: being released on your own recognizance, paying cash, taking out a property bond, or paying a surety. Bail services typically require the defendant to pay 10-15% of the total bail amount and, unlike cash payment, the defendant does not receive that money back.
In order to enter into a property bond, the property must be located in Alabama and all owners must sign off on it, Waters said.
“Sometimes I think the bonds – if you have money – obviously make it easier,” she said. “Sometimes it’s harder for someone to scrape together $500 than it is for someone else to scrape together $10,000. I do think a bond is necessary just because they have something to lose at stake.”
Safeguards have been put in place to prevent indigent defendants from staying in jail for too long.
“The law says if there’s someone who’s been in jail for more than 90 days, I have to see them,” Howell said. ‘Every day my assistant goes through that prison list to see if someone makes it to 90 days, or if they are close to 90 days. If I see that they are unable to pay a minimum scheduled bail amount, I will go ahead and speak to them, get them a lawyer, set up a hearing for them, see if there are any terms other than paying of money or whatever.
“Technically, we shouldn’t keep them in jail if the only reason they’re there is because they can’t pay.”
Before 2022, Alabama judges could only deny bond to defendants charged with capital murder. After Aniah’s Law passed, judges can now deny bail for some other Class A crimes, such as first-degree rape or theft, terrorism and aggravated child abuse.
Howell said when an officer arrests someone for an offense under Aniah’s Law, they do not have the authority to impose a bond: the suspect is automatically booked into jail without bond.
“If that happens, we will be immediately notified of that arrest,” she said. “We should see them within 72 hours, I think.”
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‘Balanced and equal’
Judges can, and do, deviate from the bail schedule. Howell said she “absolutely” sets high bail amounts, if requested, for defendants charged with drug crimes involving fentanyl. She also set them high for property crimes and domestic violence.
“I can’t tell you how many people I know, just from this job, who have overdosed and died from smoking something they thought was something else,” she said. “It was just laced with fentanyl.”
Howell said fentanyl is now virtually “in every drug” and because it poses such a danger to the community, fentanyl violations require high bonds.
Waters, who also presides over the juvenile court, has seen the harmful effects of fentanyl. She told a story about two 17-year-old defendants she sent to rehab. They had been smoking marijuana for a year.
“They came home clean and went back to their friends,” she said. “They were in Delano Park and they were buying from the same person they bought from. One of them got his hands on something that had fentanyl in it. The problem is you might be buying it from me, but you have no idea who from.” I’ll buy it from you. You can trust me with your life, but you have no idea who I bought it from upstream.”
Waters said the drug has a far-reaching impact beyond just those who use it. For example, there is a higher level of domestic violence and theft associated with its use because addicts can go to great lengths to get a fix.
“I think because of the severity of it, the long-lasting effects of it, the number of people it affects and can reach — I think the bonds for fentanyl and methamphetamine in particular are higher than normal,” she said.
Howell said she can’t think of an instance in which she refused to increase a defendant’s bond at the request of police.
“If they ask, there’s a reason for it, and we’re going to strengthen that bond,” she said. “Like everyone else, we want to keep our community safe. If a higher bond hasn’t been set, it’s because no one asked for it.”
Even though a bond is not intended to be punitive, Howell said a bond can have punitive consequences in practice.
“You have your money tied up that you will never get back in escrow, or maybe you have your assets tied up because you filed a property bond,” she said. “You know, sometimes you can’t get a job while you have a bond; you could lose your job because you got arrested.”
Howell said she goes through the comments when local law enforcement agencies post arrests on Facebook.
“It’s always full of comments like, ‘He shouldn’t even have a band,’” she said. “It’s hard to understand for the average person who doesn’t have to deal with this every day, but if it was you or me and we were accused of something we didn’t do, and we wouldn’t have had a chance to be released , then the right to be innocent until proven guilty expires.
“I think a common misunderstanding among the public is that when someone is arrested, we can just say, ‘This looks pretty bad, you’re not getting bail.’ That’s just not the case. The rules are there, and we have to follow them.”
Waters said she understands that if she were the victim, she would likely feel the same as the Facebook users who are not demanding bail. However, she also understands that the suspect’s family experiences the opposite.
“I tell people all the time, there are great people in church and there are people waiting to find prey,” she said. “There are some terrible people in that prison, but there are also some good people in that prison who made a 30-second decision, and it cost them their freedom, their family, their job and their money.”
Waters said the “whole process of the law” is about making sure everything is balanced and equal.
“So you can’t punish a suspect who hasn’t been convicted of anything without a fair trial,” she said. “And I think that is sometimes lost in the eyes of – he or she is hurting someone. And I understand that as a mother and as a citizen. But as a judge you have to look at it unbiased and on an equal footing.”
– david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.
