Maryland's highest court ruled on Wednesday that poor defendants are entitled to have an attorney present at bail hearings.
The 4-3 ruling marked the second time the Maryland Court of Appeals decided that defendants are entitled to state-furnished counsel at those initial hearings before a district court commissioner, because the defendant's liberty is at stake. The judges in the majority noted that suspects, unless released on their own recognizance, will remain incarcerated until a bail review hearing before a judge. That can take days in some cases.
"As numerous briefs to this court pointed out, the failure of a commissioner to consider all the facts relevant to a bail determination can have devastating effects on the arrested individuals," the judges wrote in the majority decision.
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10 comments:
What a crock! And who pays for 24 hour bail hearings? This is going to cost us millions. And the defendants are not held for days they see a district ct judge the next day! What a bad decision for Maryland!
The Public Defenders are already overwhelmed,,,to add this to their duties is crazy--the person will always have a bond review the next business day in front of a judge. 9:07 is totally correct--this will cost a fortune. They would probably need to double their staff, especially in summertime, to handle all the arrests.
The will hire outside help from private attorneys who will be brought in on the tax dollar to help out. Now... do you feel better?
They're paying the outside attorneys $50/hour for this in Wicomico...less than most attorneys usually make per hour but your tax dollars are paying for it!
Anonymous said...
The will hire outside help from private attorneys who will be brought in on the tax dollar to help out. Now... do you feel better?
Wow! I can't wait to pay even MORE taxes! Hurray! Lucky us! Makes me sick what is happening to this country...but wait..Yeah--Obamacare will make me feel better! NOT
Just another reason why Maryland is just as liberal and idiotic as California
More judicial legislation...for the people and by the people ? A forgotten phrase
We could save loads of Taxpayers dollars by doing away with the Commissioners office. What is the prosacutors office for? Make them do their job like in most other states!
During the week you do have a bond review the next day. Get arrested on Friday and you are sitting until Monday.
This has been in place as long as there have been sharks (attorneys) in Wicomico County. They get overwhelmed and farm out the work to the lesser attorneys with no work.
They already have 24 hour bond hearings. When someone is arrested after hours of court, they are brought before the someone,(police commish?) for a bond.
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