Is There An Amount Of Bail That Encourages A Nebbia Hold To Occur?

It is the type of crime that generally warrants the Nebbia hold, so obviously a fraud case where it is alleged that hundreds of thousands of dollars have been taken, the court wants to know that those illegal takings are not being used to then bond the person out, or similar to the drug trafficking cases. They want to be sure that if you can imagine someone like drug dealer Pablo Escobar, he just had just garbage cans full of money and so it is easy for him just to bond it out with cash.

Since it was so easier for him to bond out, he is not going to have any incentive to come back to court or to face these charges because he has so much illegal money that he did not get from a legitimate source that if the court takes the bond money, he or she does not care and they will not come to court because all the money came from the alleged crime itself.

What Is The Process To Have A Nebbia Hold Lifted?

Generally, the process happens oftentimes at the bond reduction the family member or the client or the friend who is bonding them out comes to court with their tax returns, financial statements, their property records and gives a brief statement to the court basically stating that the bond or the collateral used to bond out the client is from a legitimate source and this is the proof.  So to have a job or tax returns or they own a house or they own a business that is often required.

Additionally, if you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney, like Blake & Dorsten, oftentimes that we will get that information to the prosecutor and the prosecutor often stipulates or agrees that the bond is from a legitimate source. Sometimes, we can negotiate before the hearing even that it is legitimate and if the prosecutor agrees that it is legitimate, oftentimes the prosecutor can lift the Nebbia Hold as well.

What Takes Place At A Nebbia Hearing?

The judge is going to inquire as to the legitimacy of the bond fund. At the bond hearing, the judge is going to inquire with the witnesses that yes, the money that they have is from legitimate source, is from a job, or is from savings or a 401(K) or a house or any kind of property that the person owns as collateral.  So, it is just a brief inquiry into the actual source of funds to make sure they are legitimate.

How Long Does It Take To Get The Hearing?

We try to get the hearing as soon as possible obviously. There has to be notice to all parties but we can generally have the hearing within a few days. That often depends on the court schedule and it often depends on the prosecutor schedule, but so long as everyone is notified to the hearing and the judge has a room on the docket, we can generally get it pretty quickly. Experienced criminal attorneys like Blake & Dorsten, P.A. often call the prosecutor right away and often see if we can get the prosecutor to lift the Nebbia Hold, if we can stipulate to the financial records and that will actually save the time and expense of a hearing.

The Information That Needs To Be Gathered For The Nebbia Hearing:

For the Nebbia Hearing, our client needs to get all the financial statements together for us with the copies.  So generally, we like to go back three to five years. If we go back before the crime is alleged, that is also helpful because obviously it is not from illegal gains, if the income is from a time period before the crime is alleged to have occurred. Essentially, we need financial statements, tax returns, 401(K)s and property records, everything that will show the court that the bond money is from a legitimate non-criminal source.

Will The Defendant’s Friends or Family Have To Testify?

Potentially yes! If the client themselves does not have the legitimate funds and the family members bonding them out, if the family member’s tax returns or business records or 401(K) may be used to prove that the money being used to bond them out is from a legitimate source and so they will often have to testify that their records are true and accurate and that they are not using illegal funds to bond the client out.

What Types Of Questions Are Going To Be Asked At The Hearing?

If you talk to an experienced criminal defense attorney, like Blake & Dorsten, P.A. we will walk you through the types of questions but generally, the questions will be financial in nature just to prove that the bond money or the collateral is from a legitimate source.

For more information on Amount Of Bail & Nebbia Holds, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (727) 286-6141 today.