Awarded restitution - defendent re-arrested & posted bail

[al91206]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I was awarded restitution from a burglary incident that I was a victim of about a year ago. The guy was in jail for a couple of months, now on probation - he has been arrested a number of times since for drug offenses. I think (not sure how I can tell definitively) he posted bail for one of the pending cases.

My question - does anyone know if I can "see" if he posted bail or (more importantly) IF he posted bail, can I claim any of that $$? He has not been paying the amount he agreed to, etc etc etc - this guy has lots of problems, and while I'm not happy to add to them - this is a court order and he did steal quite a bit from me which I would like to recover, if only a small percentage.

Any information is appreciated.

Al in SoCal

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I was awarded restitution from a burglary incident that I was a victim of about a year ago. The guy was in jail for a couple of months, now on probation - he has been arrested a number of times since for drug offenses. I think (not sure how I can tell definitively) he posted bail for one of the pending cases.

My question - does anyone know if I can "see" if he posted bail or (more importantly) IF he posted bail, can I claim any of that $$? He has not been paying the amount he agreed to, etc etc etc - this guy has lots of problems, and while I'm not happy to add to them - this is a court order and he did steal quite a bit from me which I would like to recover, if only a small percentage.

Any information is appreciated.

Al in SoCal

You cannot collect what is owed you out of the guy's bail money. The bail money is for bail.

What you CAN do is file a complaint for contempt of the court order.

 

[justalayman]

You cannot collect what is owed you out of the guy's bail money. The bail money is for bail.

What you CAN do is file a complaint for contempt of the court order.

psst,

Quote Quoting California Penal Code, Sec. 1297

When money has been deposited, a receipt shall be issued in the name of the depositor. If the money remains on deposit at the time of a judgment for the payment of a fine, the clerk shall, under the direction of the court, if the defendant be the depositor, apply the money in satisfaction thereof, and after satisfying restitution to the victim or the Restitution Fund, fines, and costs, shall refund the surplus, if any, to the defendant. If the person to whom the receipt for the deposit was issued was not the defendant, the deposit after judgment shall be returned to that person within 10 days after the person claims it by submitting the receipt, and, if a claim is not made within 10 days of the exoneration of bail, the clerk shall immediately notify the depositor of the exoneration of bail.

if/when the bail is due to be refunded, it is no longer bail.

 

[quincy]

psst,



if/when the bail is due to be refunded, it is no longer bail.

It can depend on whether the defendant paid bail to the court directly, or used a bail bondsman. It also can depend on if the bail was for the subsequent drug arrests, or for the previous burglary for which restitution was ordered.

But, you are right. Money deposited with the court for bail can be used to cover court fees and court-ordered restitution.

 

[al91206]

It can depend on whether the defendant paid bail to the court directly, or used a bail bondsman. It also can depend on if the bail was for the subsequent drug arrests, or for the previous burglary for which restitution was ordered.

But, you are right. Money deposited with the court for bail can be used to cover court fees and court-ordered restitution.

Thanks for the info! I'm going to call county of LA victim services & see if they can help. I'll post results here in case others are in same situation.

 

[quincy]

Thanks for the info! I'm going to call county of LA victim services & see if they can help. I'll post results here in case others are in same situation.

That would be helpful, al91206.

Here are links to California victim compensation information:

http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/victims/

http://www.vcgcb.ca.gov/victims/counties/losangeles.aspx

I hope for your sake that the court is holding money that can be used to help compensate you for your losses. It does not appear that compensation is available through Victims Compensation for lost, damaged or stolen property, though. You will probably want to call the court.

Good luck.

 

[davew128]

You're also assuming your burglar used their own CASH to post the bond rather than either someone else's money or even their own credit card to pay the bond.

 

[Indiana Filer]

You're also assuming your burglar used their own CASH to post the bond rather than either someone else's money or even their own credit card to pay the bond.

Wouldn't the bail money be returned to the burglar since it's under his name? Do other locations actually keep track of who paid on the alleged criminal's behalf? Our state doesn't care who pays it, and doesn't keep track.

 

[justalayman]

Wouldn't the bail money be returned to the burglar since it's under his name? Do other locations actually keep track of who paid on the alleged criminal's behalf? Our state doesn't care who pays it, and doesn't keep track.

I think Indiana does. It's been awhile but a friend posted bail for a different friend of mine and I thought it was released to the person that paid it. Your neighbor to the north definitely does though n


But california must because the law is written such that it is applicable or not on whether the defendant actually posted bail or of it was posted by another for them.

 

[quincy]

Wouldn't the bail money be returned to the burglar since it's under his name? Do other locations actually keep track of who paid on the alleged criminal's behalf? Our state doesn't care who pays it, and doesn't keep track.

From what I read about California bail, the money is returned to the person who deposited it, so there should be a record kept of who paid* - the person who was arrested, a bail bondsman, someone for the person arrested.

If the bail was paid by the person arrested, the money on deposit with the court can have deducted from it any outstanding court fees and court-ordered restitution. If there is anything left after these deductions, it will be this amount that is returned to the payer.

It appears from what has been said by Al, though, that the bail money in question was posted for a subsequent arrest and pending charges, and not for the burglary incident of a year ago. I am not sure that this money would be available to satisfy a previously court-ordered restitution.



*edit to add: From the quote justalayman provided earlier from the Penal Code, it says that the payer is given a receipt for the amount deposited.

 

[davew128]

It appears from what has been said by Al, though, that the bail money in question was posted for a subsequent arrest and pending charges, and not for the burglary incident of a year ago. I am not sure that this money would be available to satisfy a previously court-ordered restitution.

Since most people who bail out in CA post a bond, the money isn't the defendant's anyway, its the bondsman's. Even if it was cash from the defendant (or more likely brought from a friend since most people arrested don't have tens of thousands of dollars in cash on their person, its held by the court for a YEAR after arrest even IF the case isn't filed by the applicable prosecutor.

 

[justalayman]

That must be specific to california. I know in my state the courts actually carry the bond in some of the situstions. What is paid that would be the bond purchase money if using a bondsman is returned to the payor. The courts do not offer this to everybody.


Indiana also does a similar thing depending what county it is in.

The bond payment is refunded by the court when they deem appropriate but no later than the case being disposed of in the courts if prosecuted. If charges are not filed the bond payment must be released as the purpose of the bond is to ensure appearance so if no charges are filed then no purpose for a bond/bail. If the prosecutor later decided to file charges the person is re-arrested and the process starts over with a new bond hearing.


On top of that there are people that actually pay bail. No bondsman involved at all in those situations.

 

[rebeccainak]

This is in relation to Alaska. Either the person who posts bail or the offender is asked at the time they are posting if they want the money to go toward fines and fees or if they want it back. They check a box and off it goes to the court. I'm pretty sure other areas have a similar procedure.

Edited to add OP, try to contact the persons Probation Officer. Usually a part of probation compliance is paying off restitution regularly. Good luck.

 

[quincy]

This is in relation to Alaska. Either the person who posts bail or the offender is asked at the time they are posting if they want the money to go toward fines and fees or if they want it back. They check a box and off it goes to the court. I'm pretty sure other areas have a similar procedure.

Edited to add OP, try to contact the persons Probation Officer. Usually a part of probation compliance is paying off restitution regularly. Good luck.

Michigan bail operates in a way similar to that of California. If the offender is the one who posts his own bail, he does not have a choice in whether it is returned to him/her in full - the court costs and restitution come out of the bail money and what remains of the money (if anything) is returned.

That could be the only time either the court or the victim sees any money from the offender, especially if the offender winds up back in jail.

It would be possible for Al to file a complaint for contempt of the court-ordered restitution, but I agree that contacting the Probation Officer could be a better first step to take. Trying to collect from an habitual offender, however, is going to be difficult.

 

[al91206]

Michigan bail operates in a way similar to that of California. If the offender is the one who posts his own bail, he does not have a choice in whether it is returned to him/her in full - the court costs and restitution come out of the bail money and what remains of the money (if anything) is returned.

That could be the only time either the court or the victim sees any money from the offender, especially if the offender winds up back in jail.

It would be possible for Al to file a complaint for contempt of the court-ordered restitution, but I agree that contacting the Probation Officer could be a better first step to take. Trying to collect from an habitual offender, however, is going to be difficult.

Thanks for this. I'm in contact w/ Victim Services at the court. I'm not sure what is going to happen, but I will post it here. I'm also giving information to the DA prosecuting this other non-related case since this defendant is still on probation for the crime he committed against me.

Thanks for the advice.

Al