NCJ Number
70885
Journal
Criminology Volume: 18 Issue: 2 Dated: (August 1980) Pages: 162-181
Date Published
1980
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This study examines the effects of several legal and extralegal factors on pretrial release and decisions concerning the amount of money bail.
Abstract
A wide range of variables known to judges at the time of a defendant's initial apperarance in court are examined as well as other factors. Data for the analysis were collected through observation of a court of initial appearance and official documents from such a court. The court served one 6county judicial district in a southeastern State and had disposition authority for any guilty pleas to misdemeanors. The court was organized around two sessions--a prehearing session for court personnel and the formal hearing. Observation data were obtained on 286 bond cases; on 204 of the cases, more complete data were obtained through affidavit-mittimus sheets and interview schedules. Findings from a regression analysis on the data showed that the first step of the bond disposition process, the recognizance decision, was influenced by several factors, including defendant's demeanor in open court which was considered the most important. Good demeanor increased the probability of release on recognizance by 34.8 percent. In cases where recongnizance was denied, only two variables were related significantly to the amount of money bond: a felony offense (as opposed to a misdemeanor) increased predicted bail by $2,300, and poor demeanor increased the predicted bail required by $1,600. The findings strongly suggest that bond dispositions are arrived at in at least two stages, and that the defendants' appearance and demeanor in formal court hearings affect both recognizance and bail decisions. Tables, 6 notes, and 31 references are given.