How the financial crisis may affect your criminal bond.
It seems prices for just about everything are falling...could illegal drugs be next? This is probably the least of your worries unless you or someone you care for is arrested with a large amount of drugs. Typically, in Houston, Harris County, Texas the value of the drugs determines the bond amount. In fact, the bond is set at double the street value. Just last month gas was selling for half as much as it is today. If cocaine prices have similarly dropped so would the bonds in a criminal drug case. For example, if someone was arrested for a drug charge and the street value was $100.000 last month the bond amount would initially be set at $200,000, but if that street value has decreased and now is $75,000 the bond should be set at $150,000. That is a difference of $5,000 when bonding someone out of jail.
Recently, I was use this theory as part of my argument to get someone a bond. The bond in that particular case was initially set at $80,000, but a magistrate judge decided to strip the person of their bond. I was able to go to the presiding judge and have the bond reinstated and lowered to $50,000. That saved my client's family over $3,000 when bonding him out.
