Anyone who is not held in jail between their arrest and trial has been released on bond with pretrial conditions. Most people who have been arrested are released by the magistrate when they are first arrested. If the magistrate denies a person bond, then they are taken before a judge (often by video) the next morning. The judge considers the person’s bond again and can grant a bond. Often at that hearing there will be a prosecutor present who may ask the judge to hold a person in jail. There also may be a pretrial report which contains information including address, employment, prior criminal convictions and other pending charges. If the person is still held without a bond, then they need to contact the Law Office of Joseph T. Brown PLC to file a bond motion and set a bond hearing as soon as possible. Some judges will let an attorney appear for a bond hearing only, while other judges will only allow a bond hearing by a lawyer who has been retained for the entire case.

At a bond hearing, the issues are whether the prisoner is a risk of flight or a danger to the community. Information that may bear on these issues may include the following:

• Risk of Flight;
  • Prior Failure to Appear convictions;
  • Local fixed address;
  • Local employment;
  • Other ties to the state such as family in the state;
• Danger to the Community;
  • Prior Criminal Convictions;
  • Nature of the current charges.

Although a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty, if a person is charged with a serious violent offense such as those listed in Va. Code 19.2-297.1 or any of the other conditions that are listed in Va. Code 19.2-120, there will be a presumption that no bond is proper. This presumption is rebuttable but requires that evidence be presented to the judge that overcomes the presumption of no bond.

At the Law Office of Joseph T. Brown, PLC, we understand that being held in jail pending trial can cause hardships on the person and their family who depends on them. If you or someone you know needs a bond hearing, call the Law Office of Joseph T. Brown PLC to schedule a bond hearing as soon as possible, and to give the person you care about the every possible chance to obtain a bond and to be released from jail pending their trial.