If a group of competent statisticians wanted to create an ideal testing ground to determine how commercial bail compares to a large pretrial service agency in getting defendants to court, they could not find anything better than the Houston, Texas Pretrial Service Agency.The reason this agency is such a perfect test site is due to a functional anomaly there: the agency supervises both defendants released on personal recognizance and defendants released on commercial surety bail. In fact, the two types of release under the agency are about 50-50. About half of each year’s 9,000 releases fall into each category.So, each defendant, whether on a bail bond or on an unsecured bail bond, receives the same supervisory oversight from agency staff in attempts to have all defendants make their scheduled court appearances.A recent research project carefully analyzed the agency’s own records for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008 to determine how each method of release (secured and unsecured) performed in terms of court appearances.The verdict is in! Is anyone actually surprised that commercial bail wins, hands down? Would you be surprised to know that twice as many defendants on unsecured release failed to make their court date? That is correct: commercial bail outperforms pretrial services two to one in getting persons to court.For 22 years, the Federal Bureau of Justice Statistics has been saying commercial bail wins, but recently the liberal pretrial services advocates complained to the current defendant-friendly administration who now says we should not pay any attention to all those Bureau of Justice Statistics findings.Fine, because now we have another source to prove our point. In a way, it is an even better source because it comes from this pretrial service’s own records. This particular agency in Houston, Texas is one of the largest and most sophisticated in the country and still, bail works twice as well in preventing failures to appear.
This article was put together by Guaranteed Freedom Bail Bonds insurance partner AIA Surety. For all your Minneapolis Bail Bond needs please contact Guaranteed Freedom. A statewide MN bail bond company.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Minneapolis Dwi Attorneys
First time (or fourth degree) DWI carries the same statutory potential penalty as any other misdemeanor: A maximum $1,000 fine and/or 90 days in jail. This is the maximum - this does not mean that if you are charged with a fourth degree DWI, you will have to spend three months in jail! For a fourth degree DWI, one certain mandatory penalty is usually successfully completing a chemical assessment, however.
Second and third degree DWIs are gross misdemeanors, and carry maximum sentences of a $3,000 fine and/or one year in jail. A first degree, or felony, DWI carries a maximum sentence of a $14,000 fine and /or up to 7 years in prison. Again, a Minnesota DWI lawyer can argue on your behalf for options to jail such as staggered sentencing, sentence-to-service work/community service work , and electronic home monitoring.
The actual sentence an individual charged with a DWI will face depends on the number of aggravating factors, the level of DWI charged and how well the individual’s attorney knew the issues in the case and was able to negotiate on the individual’s behalf.
There are mandatory minimum sentences that apply to individuals who have been convicted of a DWI at least once before. If an individual is charged with a second DWI within 10 years of the first, a 30 day jail sentence is mandatory. For a third DWI within 10 years of the first, the mandatory minimum is 90 days of incarceration. Finally, for a fifth DWI within 10 years of the first, one year of incarceration is the mandatory minimum. Once more, a Minneapolis DWI attorney can argue on your behalf for available options, though.
Long term monitoring is also part of the mandatory sentence for third time DWI offenses and for individuals charged with a DWI who are under the age of 19.
All penalties as well as sentencing guidelines are found in Minnesota Statutes. A good resource for more information is the Minnesota Statutes website
Second and third degree DWIs are gross misdemeanors, and carry maximum sentences of a $3,000 fine and/or one year in jail. A first degree, or felony, DWI carries a maximum sentence of a $14,000 fine and /or up to 7 years in prison. Again, a Minnesota DWI lawyer can argue on your behalf for options to jail such as staggered sentencing, sentence-to-service work/community service work , and electronic home monitoring.
The actual sentence an individual charged with a DWI will face depends on the number of aggravating factors, the level of DWI charged and how well the individual’s attorney knew the issues in the case and was able to negotiate on the individual’s behalf.
There are mandatory minimum sentences that apply to individuals who have been convicted of a DWI at least once before. If an individual is charged with a second DWI within 10 years of the first, a 30 day jail sentence is mandatory. For a third DWI within 10 years of the first, the mandatory minimum is 90 days of incarceration. Finally, for a fifth DWI within 10 years of the first, one year of incarceration is the mandatory minimum. Once more, a Minneapolis DWI attorney can argue on your behalf for available options, though.
Long term monitoring is also part of the mandatory sentence for third time DWI offenses and for individuals charged with a DWI who are under the age of 19.
All penalties as well as sentencing guidelines are found in Minnesota Statutes. A good resource for more information is the Minnesota Statutes website
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