There is one big thing that I feel like I have to mention about a criminal case in Los Angeles when you're talking about a bail situation. This is a question that a lot of family members have, and obviously, criminal defendants have a different perspective because they're the ones who are in custody.
But the question becomes, if you have a choice between getting an attorney and bailing the person out, what do you do?
That's an important question, and I get it. Of course, if you're a criminal defendant, you want to be bailed out. You want to get out and fight the case from the street, but the reality is that bailing somebody out really doesn't help them defend their criminal case.
It doesn't do anything investigating a criminal case. It doesn't do anything to fight for them if they're innocent or get someone who will do damage control if they're guilty.
What do you do if you have a choice between getting an attorney and bailing the person out? It is very simple. Of course, I am interested because I want to get retained on a case just like any attorney does.
But the reality is whether you retain me or another attorney. You should definitely retain an attorney in any criminal case because your control, freedom, and liberty are on the line.
But, just because the person is bailed out does not do one thing to help them defend their case. It does not do one thing towards mitigating their criminal case. So you really haven't done much by bailing the person out.
You put a Band-Aid on a bullet wound, and let me tell you something: the damage from that wound is going to grow and grow and grow in a criminal case, and the only person to stop is your advocate — your attorney.
So, you must hire an attorney first and foremost. In fact, I've often been successful in getting bail reduced in criminal cases or even getting the person released on their promise to appear in court (OR Release), saving them money on a bail bondsman in the first place.
So, if you're charged with a crime, you should definitely get a criminal defense attorney. If you have a choice between bail and the attorney, pick the attorney every time, even if you don't hire me. This is a crucial point when it comes to bail in Los Angeles.
Bail Setting in Los Angeles Court
Now let's turn to what happens when you go into court and the judge has to set bail and that's something important you need to realize. Just because you or your loved one post bail in a case, that doesn't mean that's what the bail is going to be in the case.
The police arrest people, and they mess up bail all the time. They have to come up with a bail for a person because otherwise, once they book the person, they need to set a bail. They can't keep the person in there with no bail.
They don't even have that type of authority. The person will sue them if they don't post bail within a reasonable amount of time, so they will post bail there.
When the prosecutors get the case and review it, they may decide that the police gave you a $50,000 bail. We think it should be a $200,000 bail because of the charges that we filed, your criminal record, the danger you pose to the community, and the fact that you might be a flight risk.
So, that's another reason to have an attorney when it comes to a bail situation, and that is when you appear for the arraignment in every criminal case, especially felony criminal cases in Los Angeles, the judge is going to set the bail and they don't care what the police have already set the bail at.
You know what they're going to look at? They're going to look at the bail schedule, your criminal record, and whether or not you're going to come back to court.
They're going to look at whether you have any failures to appear in the past, and you know who they will be getting the information from when it comes to that. Not you. You'll get shut down in two seconds trying to talk at your arraignment during a bail hearing.
They're going to look at your criminal defense attorney and say counsel, tell me why the bail should be this or why your client should be released with their promise to appear versus me setting the bail at such a high mark that nobody could post.
Bail Schedule in Los Angeles
Another thing you need to be aware of, and you will only be aware of if you talk to your attorney about it, is the bail schedule for your charges. In other words, the prosecutors will file certain charges against you.
The judges in Los Angeles County, at least at this point, are talking about bail reform and changing the whole bail laws. However, as we talked about this in 2020 and I put this post on the website, right now, there's a felony bail schedule for 2020 in Los Angeles County, and typically, that's what the judge is going to set the bail at.
They'll look at the crime you're charged with. If you're charged with murder, the bail is going to be set at $2 million, period. If there are other enhancements or allegations, that may make the bail go up.
If you have a prior strike or strikes on your record, the bail is going to be double or triple of what it would normally be. If you've got gun allegations or any other enhancements — sex offenses — all are stacked, meaning let's say you have six counts, they're going to try to stack the bail for each one of those counts which you typically can't do in a criminal case.
As you can see, I can go on and on about bail here, but it's a serious situation. You need a serious attorney who knows what they're doing and can fight to try to keep you out of custody. One can fight to get the lowest bail because if the bail is not set at a reasonable amount, you're not going to be able to get out, or your loved one is not going to be able to get out.
If your bail is set at such a high mark, all of your money will be taken to get out, and all that does is get you out while your case is pending. That doesn't do anything to resolve your case whatsoever.
Bail Hearings in Los Angeles County
So, bail in Los Angeles County is a huge issue, and you've got to bring somebody in there who knows what they're doing, has been down this road before, and had success. I have argued thousands of bail hearings as a criminal defense attorney.
Another thing you have to realize is that bail can change as the case goes on. If either side can show changed circumstances in the case, the judge can be convinced to change the bail.
Here's a scenario that I see all the time: Someone uses the Public Defender or another attorney, and the bail is set at a high mark, let's say, $500,000. That person can't get out.
Now, I get hired on the case because the family or the person in custody wants to hire a private criminal defense attorney because they realize what's at stake. They asked me, Mr. Hedding, to please get that bail lowered.
I look at them and say, listen, if the bail's already been set. It's already been argued, and the case has been pending; your bail is not going to be lowered because the judge is going to look at me when I try to reduce that bail and say, okay, counsel, explain to me why there are changed circumstances since this bail was set. If I can't articulate a strong argument, the judge will say no, and I'm not changing the bail.
Getting Bail Lowered for Change in Circumstances
There are occasions when the defense can show changed circumstances. Maybe you do the preliminary hearing in the case, and some of the charges get dropped, or maybe the judge sees that this is not such a strong case against the defendant.
They see this as not being such a dangerous situation that the bail should have been set this high in the first place. He says listen, I've heard the preliminary hearing. I find there are changed circumstances. I'm going to lower the bail. I will let the person out on their recognizance, whatever the case.
Of course, there's a flip side to that. Suppose the prosecutors can show that you're dangerous enough and this is a serious enough case that you are a danger to the community or a threat not to return to court at some point. In that case, they can argue against raising the bail and saying there are changed circumstances.
We've done the preliminary hearing, Your Honor, and look at how dangerous this person is. Look at what this person has done, and we think the bail should be doubled or tripled, whatever the case may be.
So, now you have a sense of what a bail situation is. When you come to my office, we'll discuss bail and consider how we'll deal with it.
I'm going to ask you a whole bunch of questions about your criminal record, the charges, and what happened in the case. Then, we can look at the felony bail schedule together, and I can give you an idea of what your bail may be set at or what your loved one's bail may be set at.
Sometimes, people are smart and wait before bailing the person out because they're going to hire an attorney, which they know is more important than the bail. They're going to see if that attorney can give them an idea of whether the bail can be lowered and the person can get out, or maybe the person's going to end up doing some time anyway based on what they did.
Who knows what the circumstance is, but before you deal with bail or anything on your criminal case, get to an attorney immediately and let that attorney be your guide moving forward.
