Mississippi's Constitutional Right to Bail

I have discussed the routine steps of a criminal prosecution in a previous post: If I am arrested for a crime, what happens to me next?  Generally, after being arrested, the first concern of a person accused of a felony is making bail.  The setting of bail following arrest is controlled by the Constitution of the State of Mississippi.  Specifically, Article 3, Section 29 provides that:
Excessive bail shall not be required, and all persons shall, before conviction, be bailable by sufficient sureties, except for capital offenses (a) when the proof is evident or presumption great; or (b) when the person has previously been convicted of a capital offense or any other offense punishable by imprisonment for a maximum of twenty (20) years or more.
The Mississippi Supreme Court has held that "[t]he constitutional right to bail before conviction has become so fundamental that it is favored by the public policy of the state."  Lee v. Lawson, 375 So.2d 1019 (Miss. 1979).  The Court has also held that the purpose of bail bonds is to insure the defendant's presence at trial, and has listed nine factors which are to be taken into account by the lower court when considering bond, those being:

  1. the seriousness of the crime charged;

  2. the extent of punishment by Mississippi statute;

  3. criminal record and record on bail, if any;

  4. reputation and mental condition;

  5. length of residence in the community;

  6. family ties and relationships;

  7. employment status and record of employment and financial condition;

  8. the identity of responsible members of the community who would vouch for his reliability; and

  9. any other factors that bear on the defendant's mode of life or ties to the community which would involve his failure to appear.

Ex parte Dennis, 334 So. 2D 369, 373-74 (Miss. 1976).  Additionally, the Dennis Court stated “[t]he justifiable premise for bail is that its denial punishes prior to a guilty verdict while an accused is clothed with the presumption of innocence.”  Id. at 371.  Thus, in the vast majority of circumstances an accused is given a bond amount and when that amount is posted is freed on bail until the next court date.

Posted by Kevin W Frye at 13 May 2009, 11:11 AM
Categories: MS Criminal Procedure,MS Drug Laws
 

What did you think of this article?




Trackbacks
Trackback specific URL for this entry
  • Trackbacks are closed for this entry.
Comments
  • No comments exist for this entry.
Leave a comment

Comments are closed.