As a St Louis criminal defense lawyer, one of the first issues our clients need us to deal with is getting a low or at least a reasonable bond set so they can get out of jail while the case is going through the court system, as we are all innocent until proven guilty. Recently, Judge John Garvey and Judge Barbara Peebles in the Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis have made a point in setting high bonds for defendants charged with gun crimes in the city of St. Louis. Typically in the past a person arrested on a gun charge such as Unlawful Use of a Weapon or Unlawfully Carrying a Concealed Weapon (CCW), Unlawful Use of a Weapon, Flourishing or other gun related charges were able to get a bond set that was reasonable. Most of the time they were able to get a 10% bond which means that if the Judge sets the bond at $30,000.00 10% then they would only have to post $3,000.00 in cash to be released.
Judge Garvey and other Judges in the City have a made a point to set the bonds higher without allowing a 10% to be posted. This means that many defendants charged with a gun crime are seeing bonds set at $50,000.00 or even as high as $75,000.00 cash only. When asked for a reason the Judges have pointed out, that based on their own perception, gun violence is increasing and they cite examples of innocent bystanders being shot in the last couple of months.
Bonds are typically set to insure that the defendant will appear in court and to ensure that the public can be protected. Each case should be looked individually to determine if a high bond is necessary. This new policy has raised some concern from the City's lead Public Defender, Mary Fox. She pointed out that State law says Judges must weigh the nature and circumstances of the charge and a criminal's background before a bond is set.
Recently a case was taken up to the Supreme Court of Missouri challenging the new bonds being set by Judge Garvey. Specifically, a Defendant was released on a bond of $15,000.00 for a gun charge while he was waiting for a grand jury indictment. Upon the grand jury indictment Judge Garvey raised the bail to $75,000.00 cash only. The case was sent up to the Supreme Court for review as the defense attorney argued that the bond increase was unfair. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case. As it stands now the City of St. Louis will continue to issue high bonds in gun cases making it very difficult for defendants to make the bond resulting in many people sitting in jail awaiting the outcome of their case.
Although the purpose of the higher bonds is to discourage people from committing gun crimes it most likely will create other problems. The city jail will become over crowded with people waiting on trials. People with no criminal history may end up getting treated the same way as a person with multiple felonies on their criminal history. Even people who are innocent may enter a plea of guilty so that they can be released. It remains to be seen if this policy will have a long lasting effect on gun crimes in the St. Louis Area.
If you have been arrested for a gun crime call St Louis law firm Sansone / Lauber today for a free consultation.
Post Dispatch Article: St. Louis judges say higher bonds may help curb gun violence
