36 year old Daughter Caught riding in a stolen car

This is my first post in this forum, so if I sound like an idiot, you know why. My 36 year old daughter was caught riding in a stolen car in Contra Costa County in California. She claims that she did not know that it was stolen. Bail was $40,000 which seems sort of high for that crime. It sort of makes me think that there was other charges that she is not telling me about. She has one other brush with the law in that she was arrested 6 months ago for a family fight with her husband. She wanted him to leave the house, and he would not leave and I guess she pushed him, and he called the cops. Anyway, that is her record that I am aware of. She seems to have anger management issues and might be bipoler, as it runs in the family. She has not attempted to seek help for any mental health issues.

My question is what sort of incarceration time is she looking at? Probation, a fine, or what? Anybody want to help me determine what to expect with the above charges?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

What State was she arrested in?
How many others were arrested?
Did anybody flee and get away?

benet2 said:

My question is what sort of incarceration time is she looking at? Probation, a fine, or what? Anybody want to help me determine what to expect with the above charges?What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

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Without knowing what the actual charges are, it is impossible to hazard a guess.
Being in posession of a stolen vehicle is 10851 VC is most likely. It's a felony and
can end up being up to a year and/or a $5000 fine. $40,000 is not an unreasonable
felony bail amount.

Wait... "riding" or "driving"? See, when I think of "riding", I usually think "not in the driver's seat". Which was she doing?

What is the disposition of her domestic violence case? Is she out on bail in that case or has it been settled? If it's been settled, is she on probation?

If she was not driving (a big plus if she wasn't) who was the person driving and what relation are they to her?

If she truly didn't know the vehicle was stolen, she is not legally guilty of the crime. This is why I'm asking what her status is on the other case.

The state will have to prove that she was aware that the vehicle was stolen or should have been aware the vehicle was stolen in order to convict her.

Not knowing any details there is no way to guess how believable her story is.

If she is out on bail on her DV case, she can be charged with committing another crime while on bail. Likewise, if she's on probation, this new charge would also be a violation of her probation. All of these things can bring her credibility into question.

Has she been bailed out of jail yet? If not, you can always contact the jail to inquire how much her bail is and what she's being charged with. If they don't want to give you this information, you can contact a bail bondsman and they should be able to get the information. This way you'll know if it is only the car theft charge or if there are any additional charges.

Has she gone before a judge yet?
Many times a judge will reduce a persons bail, depending on their prior criminal history, the charges they are facing and if they are not considered a flight risk. So it is usually best to wait for the person to appear before the judge before you post bail. (If you are considering this) There are times the person is even released on OR, or charges are dropped altogether.

If your daughter has suddenly started having anger problems and is hanging out with criminals and getting arrested after she's 36 years old, it could be that she has started using meth. I would think this would be more likely the case than she is suddenly bipolar. Just a thought,,,,,,

To add to the other responses, if she were DRIVING the car, then something apparently indicated she had some knowledge (or should have known) the car was stolen. If it was not HER car, then whose was it? Where did it come from?

If someone showed up at her door and said, "Here's a car for you," a reasonable person would ask some questions.

If she does not yet have an attorney, she needs one.

- Carl

CdwJava said:

If someone showed up at her door and said, "Here's a car for you," a reasonable person would ask some questions.

Carl

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Another good sign is one of the car windows is broken out, the steering column has a hole busted in it so you can start it with a sears/craftsman universal key, aka flat-blade screw driver.

I can't tell you how many cars & trucks we have towed in with this exact configuration.

Dougthegreat said:

Wait... "riding" or "driving"? See, when I think of "riding", I usually think "not in the driver's seat". Which was she doing?

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Doesn't matter as far as 10851 VC is concerned.

Any person who drives or takes a vehicle not his or her own, without the consent of the owner thereof, and with intent either to permanently or temporarily deprive the owner thereof of his or her title to or possession of the vehicle, whether with or without intent to steal the vehicle, or any person who is a party or an accessory to or an accomplice in the driving or unauthorized taking or stealing,

The police are likely to detain passengers, but absent some reason to believe they were a party to the actual theft, the passengers are rarely arrested. They CAN be, but it tends to be the exception absent information to the contrary.

- Carl