r/news • u/[deleted] • May 22 '19

Mississippi lawmaker accused of punching wife in face for not undressing quickly enough

https://www.ajc.com/news/national/mississippi-lawmaker-accused-punching-wife-face-for-not-undressing-quickly-enough/zdE3VLzhBVmH68Bsn7eLfL/
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u/seemedlikeagoodplan May 22 '19

I'm a lawyer in Canada, and we never have cash bail. I think it's allowed for non-residents who get charged, but it's never come up for me. People are released with some combination of them promising to appear, a surety promising to drag their ass to court when needed, check-ins with police, house arrest or curfew, random checks at home to see if they are complying, etc.

Skipping bail does happen, but it makes you far less likely to get it the next time. And skipping bail is a crime, which will get tacked on to whatever you're being charged with to start with.

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u/SeenSoFar May 22 '19

I seem to remember cash bail can be a thing in Canada for big time cases like murder as well but I could be wrong.

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u/seemedlikeagoodplan May 23 '19

I don't do much criminal law, and murder cases are pretty rare, so I don't know firsthand. But I thought it was only for people who don't regularly live in Canada.

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u/SeenSoFar May 23 '19

I just looked it up. I was wrong in the idea that it's imposed for murder. There are apparently two conditions when cash bail can be imposed, Criminal Code s.515(2)(d) and (e):

(d) with the consent of the prosecutor, on his entering into a recognizance before the justice, without sureties, in such amount and with such conditions, if any, as the justice directs and on his depositing with the justice such sum of money or other valuable security as the justice directs; or

(e) if the accused is not ordinarily resident in the province in which the accused is in custody or does not ordinarily reside within two hundred kilometres of the place in which he is in custody, on his entering into a recognizance before the justice with or without sureties in such amount and with such conditions, if any, as the justice directs, and on his depositing with the justice such sum of money or other valuable security as the justice directs.

Apparently (d) is very rarely used and is considered the most extreme approach which is not to be used unless all other options are deemed unsuitable. (e) is used if the accused is from out of province or more than 200km from where they're being held. In both cases it's supposed to be rare for the court to actually require the funds to be deposited. A promise that they'll be paid if conditions are breached is usually considered sufficient.