Celebrity Loses $1 Million Bail

American actor RANDY QUAID and his wife EVI QUAID have forfeited $1 million in bail bonds after failing to show up for their latest court date, less than a month after they missed their previous hearing, reports the New York Post.

The couple, who were scheduled to appear in court on charges of felony burglary, failed to attend the hearing in Santa Barbara California yesterday (16th November 2010). They were previously scheduled to appear in court on October 18th 2010 on the same charges, and after failing to attend, the judge issued a warrant for their arrest. The Quaids have been the subject of much media attention in recent months due to their strange behaviour. After initially being arrested for 'squatting' in a home that did not belong to them, the couple claimed they were the next intended victims on a 'Hollywood death list', which, they say, had already caused the deaths of HEATH LEDGER, CHRIS PENN, and DAVID CARRADINE.

The couple's lawyer, BOB SANGER, told the judge yesterday that the Quaids had not appeared because Randy's passport had been confiscated by Canadian authorities after he attempted to claim asylum there. Warrants for the couple's arrest are still in effect, and Judge DONNA GECK said that the $500,000 bail bonds placed on both individuals had now been forfeited

Three Arrested For Posting Fake Bail Bonds

This one comes to us from India. While we try to focus on bail bnds issues in the United States, thi is just to interesting to pass up. Imagine what would hapen to a bail bonsman in the who got caught for trying to post fake bail bonds.  

LUDHIANA: Three people have been booked on the directions of a judicial magistrate first class for having submitted fake bail bonds in a case in the court of Judicial Magistrate first class, Deepti Gupta.


The accused were identified as Sandeep Singh of Sunder Nagar, Ludhiana, Malkit Singh of Basti Bajigar, Misal Nagar, Doraha and Lal Chand of Doraha. They were booked under sections 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 199 (for false statement made in declaration which is by law receivable as evidence), 200 (for making a declaration which is inadmissible merely upon the ground of some informality) and 120-B (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.


The complainant stated that the accused had furnished false bail bonds. The accused had earlier too furnished such bonds. "We have arrested all the accused in the case," said investigation officer Jaspal Singh.


Sources said there was a need to check this illegality that was being highlighted almost everyday and strict action taken to root out the problems completely. In petty offences like cheque-bounce cases, personal bonds should be accepted and if the accused fails to appear in court, an action for declaring him a proclaimed offender should be initiated straight away. This would help to curb illegal acts like those of the furnishing of fake bail bonds and the harassment of people for acquiring the same, said advocate Deepjot Singh.

For more please go to: India Times

Bail Bonds Agency Arrests Journalist

DropZone is a multi function business in Anchorage Alaska that offers bail enforcement services. Their private security firm handcuffed and detained a journalist at a local town hall meeting.

William Fulton, head of DropZone, said his firm handles VIP and concert security, bail bond enforcement, and the occasional domestic abuse case as well. Fulton noted that they were hired for the Republican Senate nominee's, Joe Miller, town hall at Central Middle School in Anchorage because the school district requires security for private events.

Tony Hopfinger, the founder and editor of online news site the Alaska Dispatch, was handcuffed and detained by DropZone yesterday after repeatedly trying to question and videotape Miller.

Lt. Dave Parker, Public Information Officer for the Anchorage PD, told TPM that under Alaska law, non-law enforcement can conduct "private persons arrest, which is commonly called a citizens arrest," when they witness a crime being committed. This, he said, is what happened at Miller's event.

Bail Bondsman To The Stars

A SELLOUT crowd and a $300,000 payday awaited the comedian Katt Williams one November evening two years ago. It was to be his first performance at Carnegie Hall.

Just one problem: Mr. Williams was in jail.

He had been arrested that morning with members of his entourage at 28th Street and Broadway on gun possession charges. The show’s promoters were poised to pull the plug unless Mr. Williams’s lawyer, Charles A. Ross, could guarantee that he would appear.

For Mr. Ross, there was only one person to call: Ira. Ira Judelson, bail bondsman, is an inevitable entry in the BlackBerrys of New York defense lawyers, an A.T.M. for desperate rappers, actors, athletes, executives and madams with pocketbooks much fatter than his.

When Mr. Ross called that November afternoon, Mr. Judelson did what he does. He talked with two of Mr. Williams’s managers about pledging their homes as collateral, ran checks to see which had more equity, then had the owner of that one sign over the property.

Read Full Article at: New York Times

Woman Claims Bail Bondsman Sexually Coerced Her

A woman who says she was coerced into having sex with a bail agent earlier this month will file a lawsuit against the man on Monday, her attorney said.

The 20-year-old Ocoee woman claims Allen Robert Burns Jr. of Mike Snapp Bail Bonds demanded collateral and said he would revoke her bond and put her back in jail unless she had sex with him, according to a draft of the suit.

The woman complied but then reported the incident to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

Burns, 36, of Apopka, was arrested Jan. 20 and faces sexual assault charges. He was released from the Orange County Jail on $10,000 bond.

"This is a sad case of a man abusing his authority and position of power to instill fear and take advantage of a woman he should have been helping," said Richard Schwamm, the woman's attorney.

The woman, who has asked to remain anonymous because the nature of the crime against her, was arrested in October on a theft charge. That charge was dropped Jan. 25.

Sheriff's deputies investigated a 2005 claim that Burns sexually assaulted a woman who described herself as his friendly acquaintance, the Sheriff's Office said.

The sheriff's office also referred a 2008 sexual-assault claim against Burns to the Orlando Police Department.

Bail Bondsman Shot And Killed

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. — Authorities say the owner of a bail bonds business was shot and killed by another man in a home in an upscale neighborhood in Orange County.

Sheriff's spokesman Jim Amormino said Sunday that Dean Patrick Maldonado was shot by a 51-year-old guest of the woman who owned the home in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Amormino said Maldonado entered the home through a rear sliding door late Saturday night, and the shooting occurred sometime afterward.

He said the circumstances of the shooting were not clear.

Maldonado's daughter Megan Maldonado says the home belonged to her father's girlfriend.

Property records show that the homeowner is Linda Shaw-Sprowl, a personal trainer.

The name of the suspect has not been released.

PreTrial Release Debate Heats Up

TALLAHASSEE -- A so-called ``bailout'' for the bail bond industry is dissolving into political gamesmanship as the legislation advances to the House floor.

The sponsor, a future House speaker, stripped controversial language last month to disarm a skeptical panel -- but restored a similar provision Monday with the consent of friendlier lawmakers. And now a prominent bail bond business is being criticized for hosting a fundraiser for state Rep. Sandy Adams just three days after she helped pushed the bill through her committee. ``This whole thing smells,'' said Hillsborough County Sheriff's Col. Jim Previtera. The measure would eliminate pretrial release programs operated in several Florida counties by limiting eligibility only to indigent, nonviolent defendants. It also revokes a county's ability to charge a fee, with exceptions for court-ordered GPS monitoring and rehabilitation programs.

BARBED EXCHANGES It's a polarizing battle, drawing barbed exchanges in hearings as the bail bond industry fights what it sees as an overzealous government competing with business.


The local entities -- led by sheriffs -- contend the measure will make it harder for defendants to get out of jail and cost taxpayers millions more to house and feed inmates awaiting trial. The debate consumed the House Criminal and Civil Justice Policy Council for more than an hour before it easily won approval. It now goes to the full House but faces an uphill battle in the Senate. In advancing it, Rep. Chris Dorworth, the anointed House leader in 2014, drew criticism for his tactics. He helped add a controversial provision after previously deleting similar language in a committee where he needed the support of a Democrat, who gave it an edge, 6-5.

Dorworth said the new language was a compromise that lets judges determine if a defendant is indigent and able to participate in the pretrial programs. But Rep. Perry Thurston, a Plantation Democrat, suggested it appeared disingenuous. ``I think it's potentially an attempt to do through the back door what he couldn't do through the front door,'' he said.

FUNDRAISER Adams, R-Orlando, who is running for Congress, is also drawing rebukes from critics.
The president and lobbyist for Accredited, a prominent Central Florida bail bond insurer, hosted a fundraiser for Adams on March 29, just days after her House criminal justice budget committee passed the bill.
``It is very clear to me that when you have special interests with influence, these influences sometimes get preference over taxpayer's interests,'' said Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats. Adams, a former sheriff's deputy, said she supported the bill but didn't lobby for it. She disputed the timing. ``I never thought of it that way,'' she said. ``It had no bearing.'' The event raised at least $10,000. Deborah Jallad, the Accredited president, said she is a friend of Adams and also rejected any insinuations about the close timing of the vote and the fundraiser.

State law forbids lawmakers from raising campaign cash during the 60-day legislative session but provides exemptions for those running for Congress. All together, Accredited donated $15,000 to state lawmakers in the 2010 cycle and other bail bond companies added thousands more. Dorworth, the sponsor, received more than $4,000. He said it didn't influence his efforts.




Read more:Miami Herald

BY JOHN FRANK
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau