Getting Arrested in Los Angeles: Bail Bonds, Court Dates, and More

Most people will not have to get arrested in their lifetime, but for those who do, this is the process that follows. After being arrested and brought into a local police station, the suspect is then held in a cell until the booking process, which includes taking a mugshot and other photographs, fingerprinting, checking the national database, and entering their information into the database.

When this is all completed, a judge will determine how much to set the Los Angeles bail amount at. The judge sets this number based on the severity of the crime, prior arrests, previous similar cases, and risk of flight. On rare cases, a judge may decide that no bail is necessary, which is called “recognizance.” Other times, in severe cases, the judge may choose to hold the defendant without possibility of bail, usually for serious crimes or high chance of flight, termed “remand.”

After this process is finished, typically between two to six hours, depending on how busy the station is, then the arrestee is eligible for release via a Los Angeles bail bondsman. The person paying for the bail, called the indemnitor, is responsible for the defendant. If the indemnitor has enough money to pay for the bail in entirety, they can use a “cash bond,” with the promise that the entire amount will be repaid after the trial, regardless of the verdict, assuming the defendant makes it to all scheduled court hearings and trials.

Most people cannot afford to pay the whole amount, so they hire a Los Angeles bail bonds agent to pay the bail for them. The indemnitor is charged a 10% fee for the bail bond which is non-negotiable and non-refundable. The bail bondsman will meet at the jail to post bail.

Once released, it is time to consider an attorney. Unless the defendant plans to plead guilty, he or she will probably want to hire an attorney for defense.

The most important thing for the defendant to do at this point is attend all court dates. If he or she does not, it will hurt the case and could make the indemnitor liable for the bail.

Everybody makes mistakes; the key is tin he actions taken afterwards to rectify the situation.