If I am charged with a felony will I get a bond?

If you’re charged with a felony, will you get a bond? In other words, will you be able to be released from custody?

It depends on what the felony is. Many felonies are classified as violent crimes, which means that legally, a judge can deny the bond and hold you in jail until such time as your case comes up – which, in South Carolina, that’s a very slow process – someone could easily sit in jail six months to a year-and-a-half before they’re actually in court.

The other thing is, if you’re charged with murder or criminal sexual conduct, you can get a bond, but you have to go in front of a circuit court judge – that takes another few weeks for that to happen. The issues in a bond are supposed to be only two: one is, are you a flight risk? In other words, if you’re released on bond, will you go to court? And the other factor is, are you a threat to the community? In other words, are you- is your criminal record so bad that you’re such a –your history is such, or the offense charged is something that’s so serious that the court thinks that if you’re released you will be dangerous? Those are really the only two factors. It’s not guilt or innocence, it’s not the evidence; it’s flight risk and threat to the community.

Ninety percent of people, most people, should be released on bond; it’s a constitutional right and it’s a very important right. However, some people are denied bond. So, if you’re charged with a felony, you certainly want to do everything you can to make sure that you do have a bond set, that it’s a reasonable amount and you can post it and be released, so you can help defend yourself on your charges.

If you have that kind of situation, contact us at the Complete Legal Defense Team.

Complete Legal Defense Team

www.completelegaldefenseteam.com

843-279-2227