Florida Criminal Law - Arrest & Bail Process

In Florida a person may be arrested or, in some cases, issued a criminal summons to appear in court for arraignment. Following an arrest, the individual will likely be taken to a police station. At the police station the accused will be booked and advised generally as to the charges against him/her. However, these charges may be later amended and stated in more detail by the State’s attorney. The booking process involves providing the police background information. The individual may also have his/her fingerprints and/or photograph taken.
In addition, the individual may also be required to participate in a lineup, prepare a sample of penmanship, speak phrases associated with the crime with which he/she is charged, put on certain wearing apparel or give a hair sample. A person has an absolute right to counsel if he/she is asked to participate in a lineup after being formally charged with a crime.

BAIL​

In most cases, defendants must make an appearance before a judge who will first determine if bond is appropriate, and then sets the amount of the bond. The court determines the bond amount by considering, amongst other factors, the defendant's potential danger to the community and/or whether he is a risk of flight. The individual may be released upon personal recognizance / ROR (a promise to appear in court when directed), or released on bail, which involves the posting of either cash money or a surety bond as security for his/her court appearance. Bail bonds from licensed bail bondsmen are available, usually at a cost of 10 percent of the total amount of bail.
Some serious offenses, like first-degree murder, are deemed “non-bondable” and thus, a defendant is unable to bond out immediately. Defendants charged with domestic violence offenses are also unable to bond out immediately. By law, they are required to appear before a judge prior to leaving custody.
If someone is taken into custody, booked, and held he/she must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest. At that appearance, the individual may request that the magistrate lower the bail in consideration of the following factors: ties to the community, financial resources, employment record, lack of criminal record, and history of appearing in court as required.
Upon arrival at the jail or shortly thereafter, arrestees will be given an opportunity to contact an attorney. The attorney, in turn, may arrange for the posting of a bond and may appear in court and request that the bail be lowered.
In Juvenile cases in Florida, a bond hearing is held within twenty-four hours of arrest but is called a Detention Review Hearing. To give a general idea of what a Florida bond may cost, the standard bond amount in Miami-Dade County for a person arrested for DUI is $1000, while the standard for someone charged with Aggravated Battery is $7,500.

USING A BAIL BONDSMAN​

Bail bondsmen are the most utilized method of posting bail in Florida. By agreeing to post the bond, the bondsman guarantees that the defendant will appear in court, on every required date, until the case is resolved. If the defendant fails to appear after being properly notified, then his/her bond amount may be forfeited. In order to secure the assistance of a bondsman, the cost to the defendant is typically 10% of the total amount of the bond. In other words, the bondsman keeps 10% of the bond amount; that is his/her fee. (in the case of Casey Anthony, LP put up this 10% on her behalf, and therefore he cannot get this money back).
Additionally, bondsmen often require collateral in the form of cash, deeds, and/or other property etc., to protect the remainder of the bail in case the defendant fails to appear in court as required. If the defendant does indeed fail to appear, then the bondsman keeps the collateral.
Although bail bondsmen are widely used in Florida, individuals are not required to use a bondsman. Defendants may have a family member or someone else post bond at the jail. The depositor assumes the same risk as bail bondsman; money will not be returned to the depositor until after the case is over.

More Information can be found at: http://www.myfloridadefenselawyer.com/FlCriminalProcedures.html

It will be interesting to see if anyone is willing to invest $50,000 for Casey when she's charged with Caylee's death.

Maybe if she still refuses to talk & then claims she'll tell the truth (aka some new lie that people can pretend they believe) IF she can only get out of jail.

some good information here! stuff I didn't know, or wasn't sure about. thanks for the research!

Regarding the bond: Before LP bailed out Casey, the grandparents were supposedly "close" to coming up with the money.

Does anyone know how "close" they were, and if they are even closer now?