West Palm Beach Bond Hearing Lawyer

West Palm Beach, FL Bond Hearing Attorney

What Is a Bond First Appearance Hearing in Florida?

Anyone who has been accused of a criminal offense has the right to stand before a judge within 24 hours after arrest for a “First Appearance” hearing.

At the First Appearance, the court will consider what release conditions to impose on you based on a variety of factors:

• Your prior record
• Seriousness of the immediate offense
• Ties to your community
• Employment history
• Input from alleged victims and law enforcement
• Previous failures to appear

After considering these factors, the reviewing judge may order a variety of conditions for release. These might be:

• Release on your own recognizance (OR)
• Supervised release (SOR)
• Monetary bond
• Electronic monitoring
• Travel restrictions
• No contact provisions
• Forfeiture of weapons
• Substance abuse evaluations

The result of a bond hearing will impact whether you walk away positively or negatively. As a result, it is in your best interest to seek legal counsel immediately to represent your case. Attorney Nellie L. King will work with you one-on-one to develop a personalized and compelling defense before the court. This could make all the difference between a successful bond hearing and one with drastically severe consequences.

The court may also impose any other conditions it deems necessary to ensure your appearance in court and to protect the community.

What Is a Bond Hearing?

If a defendant is unable to bond out based on the conditions enunciated by the First Appearance judge in West Palm Beach, Fl, they may request a bond hearing at a later date in order to more fully present legal reasons why the initial conditions should be modified and the defendant released back into the community.

At bond hearings, witnesses can testify and alternatives to custody can be proposed in order to secure your release. Be aware that there are certain serious criminal offenses where the court may opt to hold a defendant no bond, which means they will be held in jail until the trial or disposition of their case. However, thorough and eloquent presentations of your background, family ties, and any other stabilizing facet of your life are the best ways to advocate for release, no matter how serious the allegations.

Note that some of the things that matter when it comes to lowering a bond will be:

• Financial circumstances of the defendant
• Defendant’s address and ties to the community
• Defendant’s occupation and employment history
• Defendant’s family and relatives who live in the community
• Extent and nature of any criminal history of the defendant
• Nature and circumstances of the alleged offense
• Extenuating medical or psychological circumstances of the defendant

An experienced West Palm Beach bond hearing lawyer attorney understands the intricacies of requests for bonds in criminal cases. She can guide you or your family through the traumatic process of obtaining release from jail on reasonable conditions. In fact, with her guidance, you and your family may actually end up saving money by reducing the bond at a hearing rather than paying the initial, full bail amount.

Cash and Surety Bonds

Once the court sets the bond amount, you have two options for posting bail:

• A cash bond is a bail that is posted in cash or cashier’s check at the sheriff’s office, usually by the family of the accused. At the conclusion of the court case, the cash bond will be returned in full, provided the defendant appears in court for all hearings.
• A surety bond, on the other hand, is a bail that is posted through a surety or bail bonding company on behalf of the accused. You should expect to be charged a 10% bond premium fee that you will not get back. For example, if your bail is set at $10,000, then you may face a $1,000 fee through a surety bond. For many families, though, surety bond postings represent the most feasible manner to secure someone’s release.

The rules and nuances surrounding bail or bond hearings can be complex. Your best option is to speak to qualified West Palm Beach bond hearing lawyer attorney Nellie L. King as soon as possible before settling your case. She takes each case personally and develops a compelling and personalized defense to protect each of her client’s rights