Wife Skipped Sentencing Hearing; Bail Revocation
CALIFORNIA: Thank you in advance for any advice. My wife was arrested last year for a major felony. Bail was set high because of the amount stolen, and bail cost me $55k and a lien on my house, plus legal fees for a "1275"-hearing, and combined with the cost of a criminal defense lawyer, I'm broke.
Long story short, my wife pled guilty, and then skipped her sentencing hearing. That was last week and we haven't seen her since. Her lawyer got the judge to delay revocation of bail for 3 days to give us a chance to find her. But she has disappeared completely, and bond is likely to be revoked tomorrow or Monday. The bond company isn't too thrilled, because the housing market here is weak, and the sale of my house will still leave them at a loss. They are being courteous enough, and have their star "bond recovery agent" which I guess means "bounty hunter" on the case, but I am being told that I will be charged for the expenses of the recovery whether they find her or not!
My questions: A) What is the longest period a judge can refrain from revoking bail? My wife has serious mental problems, and this has been raised in court, and the judge seems sympathetic to this, so is there some way I can write a letter or ask for a hearing to keep bail from being revoked? B) Can the bond company really charge me for the bounty hunter's expenses? C) Can the bond company sue me for the loss they'll take if my wife doesn't show up? I've already paid them $50k which is nonrefundable even if my wife shows up at court tomorrow, and if bail is revoked, they'll have my house too, but the bond agent I am dealing with is saying that I'll still owe about $100k even if my house sells right away for its appraised value. Don't they have insurance? Isn't that the risk of being in the bail bond business? D) Let's say my wife returns home in 2-3 months, or a year, and is sentenced and serves her time. Can bail be reinstated? Meaning, is there any way to get my money/house back if she comes back? Is there a statute of limitations on this? E) Does divorcing my wife make any difference? I'm going to divorce her regardless, and the bond company made it very clear that I was responsible for her no matter what, but is there any angle here to be played?
Thank you for your answers and advice in advance. And I apologize if I don't reply right away to any requests for additional information. I'm pretty much out looking for my wife 24/7, as you can understand. THANK YOU!!
Re: Wife Skipped Sentencing Hearing; Bail Revocation
A. There's no "hard and fast" rule, but I would be surprised if the judge is willing to extend the bond unless there's very good reason to believe that your wife is going to show up.
B. They can do whatever you authorized in the contract you signed. If you agreed to be responsible for the bounty hunter's fees, then they can hold you responsible for those fees.
C. Again, see your contract.
D. You can try. Given the amount of money involved, it's certainly worth trying. The bail bond company may attempt to get the bond reinstated if they find her, such that they can avoid a loss; I would not be surprised if your contract requires you to pay their legal fees if they attempt to get the bond reinstated.
E. No. Divorcing her won't erase the fact that you signed the bail bond contract to post bond on her behalf, or the fact that she skipped bail.
Re: Wife Skipped Sentencing Hearing; Bail Revocation
Do you have joint credit cards? If so, you can go online and see the transactions. With some cards, you can see them virtually in real time.
The other approach would be to report the cards stolen so she can't use them. Make sure she doesn't have access to bank accounts, etc.
Does she have a car? The police should issue a bolo.
How much cash did she have? Thus, how far could she have gotten. Have you taken photos to the bus depot, etc. Have you, the bond company, police looked at video?
Who would give a bond company insurance on bonds that it issues? That is virtually a ponzi scheme.
I would file for divorce immediately so she can't sign contracts etc. that you will also be responsible for, etc.
I can understand why you put up bail, but realistically you should have seen this coming.