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-   -   Probation violation questions in Alabama (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=366787)

  • Jun 19, 2009, 10:25 AM
    jamielcc
    Probation violation questions in Alabama
    My dad was arrested for possession of controlled sub about a month ago... He has not had court for that charge yet at all, has not "plead" or anything. He has been on probation for the same thing for right at 2 years now. (with no arrests in between) When he went to his PO as usual, they arrested him for VOP and told him on a Tuesday that he could probably bond out on Friday. As of now, he has been in jail for 1 week and 3 days under no bond. My question(s) is #1 - Does just being arrested violate probation? Even before he is found to be guilty or not? #2 - How long will it probably be until the judge sets a bond for him? #3 - Is there anything that anyone can do that will get a judge to set bond any sooner?
  • Jun 19, 2009, 04:07 PM
    twinkiedooter

    Yes, him being arrested is a VOP automatically. He may or may not get bond so don't count on anything until it happens as it probably won't. If his original sentencing Judge finds out he was arrested again for drugs changes are slim and none that he will get bonded out. He will have to attend a violation of probation hearing before he sees freedom.
  • Jun 19, 2009, 06:15 PM
    Fr_Chuck

    Just getting the bond is a maybe, many places will not allow a bond until you have a violation hearing.
  • Jun 19, 2009, 08:01 PM
    JimGunther

    I was a probation officer in MD for 7 years and in my state, getting arrested does not violate probation because the new charges could always be dropped or there could be a finding at a later time that probable cause for the arrest did not exist.

    Presumably, this is not the case in Florida because a warrant for violating probation was issued, unless it was issued for some reason other than the new arrest. Papers should be issued to the arrested person stating why they were arrested (the charging document, required by the Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) which the defense attorney (I hope the person gets one) uses to prepare a defense.

    The Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that an arrested person be entitled to a reasonable bail/bond, in my state a bond review hearing is held after a person is arrested on the next business day (if they are not released immediately after the arrest) to determine what the circumstances of release will be, if any. Sometimes the violation of probation document issued by the judge makes this determination, other times it does not.

    It is really not possible to make a determination as to whether the person will be released on bail/bond, it is possbile he may be held until the VOP date, depending on what the specifics of the case are and what the judge who makes the decision to release or not feels is reasonable.

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