Keep Bailing

At 2:05 on Sunday morning, a man who was allegedly drunk, drove his late model Mercedes through the front gate of an Irvine jail and then fought with a Sheriff’s Department sergeant who was on duty there, according to the Orange County Register.

Matthew Van McDaniel plowed into the James A. Musick Jail and got out of his car, which he left in gear, still running.  The car then hit a tree on the jail campus.

McDaniel, who makes his living as a dancer, managed to successfully pirouette away from the sergeant he attacked, but other deputies soon arrested him on the spot.

“It’s the first time Read more »

It’s called capping — and it’s occurring at the Orange County Jail with alarming frequency.  Capping is the practice of one inmate getting kickbacks from a shady bail bond company once he signs up fellow inmates to use their services.

Here’s how it works:  The inmate connected to the bail bond company offers to make three-way calls for other inmates willing to use their services.  Anyone who isn’t interested is intimidated until he changes his mind.  As reported by the Orange County Register, no less than eight witnesses, all of them arrestees at the jail, recently testified about this illegal practice to both the OC Sheriff’s department and the OC Bail Agents Association.

Each witness was interviewed by private investigator Bill Hunt, a former Sheriff’s Lieutenant currently running for Orange County Sheriff.  Hunt’s subsequent report alleges that some prisoners have bullied others regarding the company they should use for posting their bail.  Hunt also discovered that someone who had access to booking information was passing telephone numbers on to these same bail companies, who then in turn called the prisoners’ family members to pay up.

One woman, Read more »

Last week, the James A. Musick Jail, a 100-acre detention facility in Irvine better known as “The Farm”, shut down its East Compound.  According to the Orange County Register, Orange County authorities are hoping to save $1 million by doing so.  The move is yet another example of the economic challenges faced by the OC, a community that normally enjoys quite a reputation as the poster child for California affluence.

The OC Sheriff’s Department has had $20 million cut from its budget this year and more than $65 million is still expected to be slashed. “It is essential that we continue to evaluate our operation and identify potential cost savings.” Sheriff Sandra Hutchens said in a written statement.  She also promised the closure would not Read more »

As last year, California bail agents met at Lake Tahoe for the 2009 Annual Convention of the California Bail Agents (CBAA). Day one was Monday and included the usual State of the Association and PBUS National Updates.

Pretrial Release

Continuing Education Credit was offered to bondsmen who attended all required sessions, the first of which was an attorney presentation regarding Pre Trial Release presented by Ash Pirayou of Rutan & Tucker and a panel on Credit Card Bail. Pirayou reviewed current happenings in Pretrial Release (commonly known as Release on Own Recognizance or “OR“) in Santa Clara County. Pirayou said that Santa Clara County jailsare attempting to use pretrial release to relieve jail overcrowding and save money, but the bottom line numbers show a significantly different picture. He called on bail agents to help paint an accurate public picture.

Orange County Sheriff Candidate

Bondsmen were also addressed by Bill Hunt, candidate for Orange County Sheriff.  Hunt, who spent 22 years in the Orange County Read more »

Oh, the ever weaving web of criminal ways in the jail system. Even honest bail bondsmen, who help people get out of jail and provide a necessary public service can’t seem to escape it. 

It seems there are inmates behind bars in Orange County, aptly called “shot callers.” These people are known associates of criminal gangs who are allegedly allowed by OC jail guards to run certain areas of the jail. They believed by some to be running an elaborate bail bonds scheme. 

Reportedly, these “shot callers,” tell defendants to go see certain ‘preferred’ bail bondsman for their bond. Once these defendants have been bailed out, the “shot callers” are in-turn, given ‘kickbacks;’ a percentage of the bail money from certain dishonest bail bondsmen.

However, there are three Orange County bail agencies who are not taking this illegal practice Read more »

Bill Hunt is a candidate for Orange County Sheriff, 2010. I met Bill initially at a California Bail Agents Association (CBAA) meeting two years ago. I believe I was introduced to him as a private investigator. He seemed like a nice honest person at the time. As you can see, Hunt has a passsion for Orange County and the law:

Since then, Bill Read more »

Over the next 2 years, the Orange County Sheriff’s department is said to be short $88 million with regards to their budget. Their plan? Replace deputies in the Orange County Jail with civilians. Supposedly this will save them $10 million per year. Other creative cost-saving techniques are being explored by Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens.

The idea is Read more »