Keep Bailing

Nonviolent inmates who are currently in a Los Angeles County jail could serve only 80% of their jail terms.  And, according to department officials, that number could be knocked down to them serving only 50% of their sentences.

So what’s happening here?  LA County Sheriff Lee Baca stated that these early release sentences for inmates may be the future of what’s “inevitable” as the county’s budget crisis continues. The Department currently faces a $128 million budget gap.

Department spokesman Read more »

Los Angeles police investigators have reported that a 22-year old woman who had allegedly been abducted by her own mother has been located.  It all started 14 years ago when Jessica Click-Hill was reported missing by her father, Dean Click on September 2nd, 1995 in Walnut Creek, CA.

Back then, charges were filed against the 52-year-old mother, (Hill) who also goes by the name Gail D. Jackson. However, she disappeared before authorities could arrest her. Later, the FBI issued an arrest warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

This week, the FBI Read more »

Some arrestees in Virginia, who can afford to pay their own bail, have been taking advantage of a taxpayer-funded get-out-of-jail-free card that has many in the Va. General Assembly fuming. But opponents say that folks who want to end this law are merely a front for bail bondsmen who seek to line their own pockets by doing so.

It’s called “Pretrial Services” and it allows defendants to be released before their court hearing without bail. Commercial bail bondsmen want to limit this. Bondsmen point out that release on “Own Recognizance” is only supposed to be used by defendants who can’t afford their own bail, but that inmates with means seems are being offered the service – at a cost to the tax payers. Tax dollars should not be used to bail out those who have the means to pay nor should the state compete with private business.

But pretrial services supporters feel someone’s ability to pay a bail amount shouldn’t be Read more »

Pre-trial Release is what some states call their “Own Recognizance” (OR) release program. Defendants are released without bail, without monitoring of a bondsman, without support of a friend or family member willing to help fulfill a promise to appear in court.

Proponents site savings in jail costs, but it’s a huge problem for public safety. Release on “OR” has a significant place in the legal system, but that place is not to relieve overcrowding.

Here’s a look at some of the problems. It’s five minutes, long by Internet standards. But, it’s a good five minute education.

Sports celebrities are not alone, just after 2 a.m. early Wednesday, R-Bakersfield State Sen. Roy Ashburn was pulled over by CHP officers after they noticed his driving erratically. The Senator was at the wheel of a state Senate-issued Chevy Tahoe. 

When stopped, officers noticed symptoms of alcohol intoxication. He was arrested and charged with two misdemeanors. One for driving with a blood alcohol level in excess of .08% and DUI.

Ashburn was accompanied by an unknown passenger in the vehicle. Jay Bart, of the CHP said the Senator submitted to the chemical test for blood alcohol and was reportedly very cooperative with the arresting officers. 

Ashburn arrived at a Sacramento County jail sometime before 4 a.m. and was later released.

They can catch flying projectiles in a split second, run faster than lightening, jump higher than a house, hit impossible targets, throw farther than anyone should – and for all of that, they are duly paid a king’s ransom.

But for all their prowess, fame and fortune, more and more sports celebrities are catching more and more of those name and game stealing DUI’s. That’s right. Arrested for driving while under the influence of alcohol.  Is it the stress or strain of being under the public eye? Is it the constant pressure to perform? Let’s take a closer look at a few recent sport celebrity DUI arrests.

First up, basketball phenom Read more »

This past Sunday, a 39-year-old man, whose name has not yet been released, allegedly shot his girlfriend and then barricaded himself inside a Tarzana apartment. He was finally taken into custody after a standoff with police. The woman, 40, was rushed to a nearby hospital where she continues to remain in serious condition from multiple gunshot wounds.

Los Angeles Police Department officers responding to domestic violence dispute Read more »

Perhaps you heard the National Public Radio (NPR) series on bail. To say the least, they painted a skewed picture of bail bonds, bail bondsmen and “pre-trial release,” known in California as Release on Own Recognizance (OR).

This morning, I read a blog post correcting some of NPRs “facts”. Here’s an excerpt quoting Dennis Bartlett, of the American Bail Coalition:

“The NPR story is fallacious in that it gives the impression of a great mass of unfortunates stuck in jail, like some medieval black hole in Calcutta. This is far from the case. The cohort of 500,000 non-convicted defendants is not static. Over a year almost the entire cohort turns over by people coming into the system on new arrests and people exiting on bail, going back to freedom after case closure or getting on the Department of Corrections bus to head for the penitentiary after conviction.

Some will not get out on bail. Why? Some further facts Read more »

While the search for the girl continues, the search for the individual behind the disappearance of Chelsea King, a seventeen-year-old, straight-A Poway high school student, may be over. The San Diego County Sheriff Deparment says a registered sex offender has been arrested in connection to the missing teen.

John Albert Gardner, 30, of Riverside County was arrested by the San Diego Sheriff Department Sunday afternoon. He is being held without bail at the San Diego Central Jail and is schedule for arraignment on Wednesday.

Chelsea King was last seen jogging in the Rancho Bernardo Community Park on Thursday. Investigators were able to tie Gardner to the crime through physical evidence they discovered during their search of the park.

About 130 law enforcement personnel, including San Diego Sheriff Deputies, Escondido Police, the San Diego Police Department and Read more »

Farmland south of the Salinas city limits has been slated as the building site for a new and larger Monterey County jail that will be part of a “public safety campus.” Other facilities on the proposed site include a new juvenile hall, youth center and a Probation Department. Unfortunately, the county currently doesn’t have the budget to construct this detention center or its related facilities, so it will probably be five years until ground can be broken. But that did not stop the Monterey County Board of Supervisors from approving it, anyway.

The deal allows Read more »