When you’ve been arrested and you were released on a bail bond, you’re supposed to avoid contact with known criminals, stay away from firearms, and avoid doing anything illegal yourself. These are pretty standard conditions of bail that the court issues. Often, they also include that you enroll in a drug or alcohol treatment program and stay away from specific areas but the overall point is while you’re out on bail, clean up your act and stay out of trouble.
A Second Chance
Being allowed to be released on bail is a luxury that not everyone gets. The judge looked at you, your record, the nature of the crime, and the likelihood that you’d show up for your court dates and decided to take a chance on you. And it is like a second chance. Even if you’ll almost definitely be serving time for your crime, being out on bond while you’re awaiting your trial shows the court that you can stay on the straight and narrow and may impress the judge which could result in less jail time. Just as you would try to be on your best behavior while in jail so you could reap those rewards (shortened prison sentence or receiving in-house perks) so should you be on your best behavior while you’re awaiting your trial because you want to reap those rewards (less jail time).
When you’re arrested again, you’re telling the court that you couldn’t refrain from breaking the law and that you were lying (under oath, no less) when you said you would. It certainly doesn’t help your original case if you’re pleading not guilty to the crime and then you’re arrested for another.
What’s the Worst That Can Happen?
Consequences, that’s what. If you’re arrested while out on bond, the court may decide to:
- Revoke your original bail
- Deny bail for the new charges
- Add more bail conditions
- Increase the amount of bail
This is in addition to penalties for the more recent crime. Just like before, the judge will take into account the nature of the new crime and the other things she looked at before but now, she has added information that you committed more crimes and probably will again. It may not completely deter her from allowing bail but it will almost certainly affect the amount of the bail and its conditions.
If your bail is revoked, you will receive any money that you paid back from the bail bondsman, minus the 10% premium, of course. However, you’ll now have to come up with two separate bail bonds, that is, if they even offer bail. There’s a very good likelihood that you won’t be allowed bail for either case and you’ll have to stay in jail until your trial.
At Mercy Bail Bonds, our caring staff is available 24/7 to help with your release from jail. Mercy is a full-service bail bond agency serving Pasco, Hernando, Hillsborough, and Pinellas counties as well as the entire state of Florida and the country. Our bond agents will guide you through this difficult time and get you out of jail fast. If you’ve been arrested, even if you were already out on bond, call Mercy Bail Bonds now at (727) 856-7775.