Who’s Your Pal? Who’s Your Buddy?

Jeff Downer — Sun, 19 May 2013 13:42:00 +0000

Do Failure to Appear Warrants Expire?

Jeff Downer — Mon, 13 May 2013 12:14:22 +0000

A question often arises as to whether warrants issued for failure to appear in court will expire after a certain period of time. The answer is no. A wishful thinking defendant may hope that by failing to appear and remaining in a fugitive status for a long enough period of time will create some type of statute of limitations scenario where their case will magically disappear, and they will become immune from further prosecution on the matter. Indiana law is quite clear on this subject. Any warrant issued for failing to appear in court (whether the case be a misdemeanor or a felony) does not come with an expiration …

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Is Failure to Appear a Crime?

Jeff Downer — Wed, 08 May 2013 22:39:37 +0000

Is a defendant’s failure to appear on a criminal case considered a separate criminal offense in it’s own right? In most states and jurisdictions the answer is yes. What this means is that not only will a failure to appear warrant be issued for current case, an entirely new criminal charge of failure to appear can be pursued against the defendant. Commonly, the seriousness of the new failure to appear charge will depend upon the charge levels in the originating case.by In Indiana, this is how the failure to appear charge levels are determined. If the the original case consisted of misdemeanor charges then the failure to appear would …

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A Salute to a Bondsman Who Charged into Harm’s Way

Jeff Downer — Fri, 03 May 2013 14:34:44 +0000

Gerald Madrid, a New Mexico bail bondsman, was playing the flute during morning mass at St. Jude Thaddeus, a Catholic church in Northwest Albuquerque, when a man entered the church and began attacking the choir director with a knife. Mr. Madrid immediately leapt to the defense of the director and tells his story in this CNN interview. Well done, Mr. Madrid. Your actions make the bail bond community proud. Godspeed on your recovery

Posting a Bail Bond After a Failure to Appear

Jeff Downer — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:08:57 +0000

Defendants who fail to appear (FTA) and become fugitives are a fact of life. Since the insuring a defendant’s risk of failing to appear is the basis of the commercial bail industry, posting the bail of someone who has chosen to become a fugitive and subsequently been returned to court can be problematic. While considering the effects of bonding someone out of custody after a FTA, think of a car insurance. A car insurer assumes financial responsibility for damages caused in automobile accidents. The occurrence of car accidents is going to change the dynamics of the relationship between the car owner and the insurance company. Things are going to …

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Jeff Downer Bail Bonds and Social Media

Jeff Downer — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:12:23 +0000

It is 2013 and social media is firmly entrenched as a means for people and organizations to interact. Many businesses are now using social media to acquire and retain customers. Jeff Downer Bail Bonds is no different. I have found social media offers wonderful opportunities to share news and educate the public about our business, bail bonds and the commercial bail industry. Jeff Downer Bail Bonds posts daily items of interest on Twitter, Facebook and Google+. These efforts have not gone unnoticed. I feel quite honored to have been recognized by the AboutBail network on their list of 50 Bail Professionals You Should Follow on Twitter. Everyone who is …

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Using Someone Else’s Name When Arrested

Jeff Downer — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:19:11 +0000

There are those who believe there is some benefit to using someone else’s name or an alias when being arrested. The fact is that any benefit is short lived at best and creates even more long term problems in this age of extensive integrated automated fingerprint identification (IAFIS) database networks and post 9/11 diligence. How? The most important thing to bear in mind is that within the criminal justice system, people are literally numbers, not names. These numbers are associated with fingerprints, pictures and other unique physical identifiers of the person actually arrested and become part of nationwide computer databases. Whatever alias name or names that are used simply …

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Bail Bond Exoneration

Jeff Downer — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 12:57:48 +0000

When a court finds that the obligations of a bail bond are discharged and liability on the bond is released, it is called exoneration. Simply speaking, exoneration means the bail bond is no longer in effect. In the vast majority of cases, exoneration occurs when the case is disposed of by the court. Case dispositions take the following forms: Sentencing Finding of not guilty Enrollment into a diversion program Dismissal of all charges There may instances of a bail bond being exonerated prior to disposition because the defendant has become a flight risk or violated conditions of release. Per Indiana Code here are the steps a bail bondsman must …

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Cautionary Tale About Following Conditions of Bail

Jeff Downer — Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:16:47 +0000

When a judge determines the amount of a bail bond they often impose other conditions of release. Such conditions can, among many things, include: Electronic monitoring Drug and alcohol testing Curfews Substance abuse counseling No contact orders Violating these conditions can and will result in the the revocation of bond and awaiting trial in jail. Consider this incident reported in the American Bar Association Journal during a bond hearing in suburban Chicago. It seems the defendant had violated the court ordered curfew by 22 minutes. The judge increased the defendant’s bond from $2,000 to $75,000. While protesting the judge’s decision the defense attorney was found to be in contempt, …

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Heartthrob Arrested for Missed Court Date

Jeff Downer — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 12:27:32 +0000

Rick Springfield Arrested for Missed Court Date -Rolling Stone There is no truth to the rumor that Mr. Springfield was apprehended in a shopping mall after being cornered by a mob of screaming and fainting women of a certain age.