We have a person who was out on bond for a drug charge. He has already been indicted on that charge. While he was out he committed another felony drug charge. My question is this, can we actually have his bond on the indicted charge completely revoked or may we only request that it be increased? I know we can seek a denial of bond on his brand new charge, but that seems a little pointless considering we can only deny it for 60 days and he gets an interlocutory appeal anyway. Thanks for your help. I hate bail bond law.


Steve L.

Bail bond law is a glorious field, populated by many colorful characters.

Under the new constitutional provision that permits a judge to deny bond for a defendant who messes up while out on bond, you can use the provision only if the defendant was placed under a condition that ordered him not to do whatever he did. So, did your case involve a condition ordering the defendant to commit no new crimes or to avoid drugs and alcohol?

If so, then you can file a motion to revoke the bond. The defendant has a right to a hearing (but can be held in jail pending that hearing). You must prove by a preponderance of the evidence he violated the condition and the violation threatened the safety of the victim or community. Easy enough with a new felony.

If no condition was imposed, then you can ask the judge to declare the old bond insufficient (because defendant committed a new crime) and have a higher bail set.