Page Title

LOS ANGELES COUNTY Felony Bail Schedule

I WAS IN MY LAST

YEAR

COLLEGE

AT UC

BERKELEY

AND HAD

BROKEN

UP WITH MY

BOYFRIEND ALEX

WAS

UNDER A LOT

PRESSURE AND

VERY

DEPRESSED.

FOR NO GOOD

REASON,

SHOPLIFTED

CLOTHES

FROM

MACY'S. IT WAS

OVER $

00.00.

I WAS SO

EMBARRASSED AND

WORRIED. I DID NOT

WANT MY

PARENTS

FIND OUT AND

THERE

WAS A

POSSIBILITY

THAT

WOULD GET KICKED

OUT OF SCHOOL IF

CONVICTED.

I FOUND MR.

ZAVALA ON

THE

INTERNET. HE IS A

UCLA LAW

GRADUATE

WITH

YEARS OF

EXPERIENCE.

HOWEVER, HIS

GREATEST ASSET IS

HIS

CARING NATURE

AND

HONESTY.

HE PRESENTED MY

HUMAN

SIDE TO THE

PROSECUTOR,

WHO

EVENTUALLY

DISMISSED

ALL

CHARGES.

MR. ZAVALA, YOU

ARE

TRULY A

GREAT

LAWYER.

Jeanel

LOS ANGELES COURT
SHOPLIFITNG

The Law OFFICES OF
FRANCISCO M. ZAVALA
A TOP RATED criminal DEFENSE FIRM

ATTORNEY FRANCISCO M. ZAVALA
HAS HAS APPEARED ON VARIOUS
MEDIA OUTLETS SUCH AS:

SETTING BAIL

According to Penal Code section 1275, When "setting,

reducing or denying bail," a judge must

consider

public

safety the

primary factor, but also must

consider the

following factors:

Seriousness of the Offense Charged
Previous Criminal Record of Defendant
Probability of Defendant Appearing in Court
Injuries to the Victim
Threats of Violence Made by Defendant
Use of Firearms or Other Deadly Weapons

In Los Angeles County, bail is set by the arresting law

enforcement agency

according

to the LA.

County

Uniform

Bail

Schedule (Click on the Link Above to

See Bail Schedule).

In California, an arresting officer

must

take the

defendant

before a judge within 48 hours of

arrest,

excluding

Saturdays,

Sundays and Holidays. So if you

are arrested on

a Friday, Saturday

and Sunday

not

count towards

the 48

hours, and the

day for you to be

brought to court would

Tuesday.

(Penal

Code

sections, 825, 828)

It is a misdemeanor crime for an officer to willfully

delays

taking a defendant before a Judge

within 48

hours of

arrest.

(Penal Code section 145)

REDUCING BAIL

Generally, there are only two ways to get your bail

reduced.

1) Before Your First Court Appearance

Your

First

Court

Appearance.

BEFORE FIRST COURT APPEARANCE

If a defendant wishes to have a lower bail set

before

going

to court and he/she is still in custody,

the

defendant

must

himself contact the

L.A. County

Bail

Deviation Program (

213-351-

5151 or

1800-773-

5151 between 6a.

and 12

midnight

)

to apply for a

lower bail.

ON FIRST COURT APPEARANCE

Otherwise, a defendant may wait until he appears

before a

judge and through his Attorney

request

that

the

Judge

reduce

bail or possibly permit

defendant to

be released on

his word and

promise to

appear at the

next court date

(which means

you do not have to pay

bail). This is known

"own

recognizance release" or

O.R. Release.

Although difficult to obtain, this office has had success

the past obtaining the release of many

our

clients

Release at their first court

appearance, saving

them the

expense of hiring a

bail

bondsman, which

usually

charge

10% of

the bail amount for their

services. So if your bail is

set at

20,

000, the cost of

hiring a bail

bondsman would be

$ 2000. Many times, this leaves defendants without

any

funds to hire an experienced and

successful

private

attorney to

represent them in court. So

unless it

is an

extreme necessity

, it

may be best to wait

until

your first

court

appearance, hire an

experienced

attorney to appear

with

you on that date and

allow your

attorney the

opportunity

to convince the judge to

reduce

your bail

release you on O.R.

EXTREME NECESSITY-WHEN YOU

SHOULD

BAIL OUT

Obviously, deciding whether to immediately bail out or

wait

until you go to court is a very personal

decision.

Every

case

different and your decision will

depend

on your own

personal

circumstances.

However, it is

our experience

that

the

following circumstances merit

and almost

require that

you post

Bail

immediately

If Defendant Is Not A U.S. Citizen

A person who is not a U.S. Citizen risks being

detained by INS for

deportation

proceedings as long as he remains in custody,

even

if you have been a

Permanent

Resident all your life. Generally, the INS will

not

detain someone who is

no longer in

custody. The INS simply does not have the

manpower to actively locate

people who have

been released from jail. However, they

will

locate

and detain individuals

who are in jail.

If Defendant Has A Serious Medical Condition
Requiring Medication

If Defendant Has Not Been Interrogated By Detectives

Most serious cases, such as sexual assault or homicide,
involve an assigned investigating detective who will make every
effort to interrogate the defendant to obtain a confession
BEFORE he goes to court. A confession is the most powerful
weapon a Prosecutor can use against a defendant. Most
defendants will give confessions out of fear, ignorance or just
because they think if they cooperate and say what the police
want to hear, then they will get released. Whatever the reason, a
defendant in custody runs the greatest risk of interrogation. This
is because usually the interrogation will take place within 24
hours of arrest. Sometimes it can take longer for an investigator
to be assigned and then interrogate the defendant. So if you are
able to bail out before the investigator has an opportunity to
question you, many times you will have protected yourself from
incriminating yourself and putting the nail in the coffin. Once
you are released, immediately hire an attorney so the attorney
can contact the investigating detective and stop them from
questioning you about the case.

However,

if you do not have the ability to pay the

bail

immediately

hire an experienced

attorney

who

will

then

contact the

investigating detective

assigned to