While awaiting trial can be a stressful and scary time and some may think if they might be looking at a long sentence that their only chance is to flee, it is important to note that this option can make things exponentially worse. From the loss of resources to possibly putting friends and family in difficult decisions, here are some reasons why skipping bail will cause more harm than good.
Bail be offered again is probably not likely
If someone decides to run instead of showing up to their hearing and they are arrested again, the chances of a judge granting a bond again are practically zero since the defendant has already proven themselves to be a flight risk. Because of this, the person arrested could possibly face weeks and months in jail before even getting to a hearing, and even after the case is concluded that record of fleeing could come to haunt them if they ever have any other run-ins with the law.
A lot of money will be lost
Beyond losing one’s own personal freedom, another really difficult consequence of skipping bail is that if someone paid a cash bond, that money will now never be returned or even worse, if they had used the services of a bail bondsman, the bondsman will now have to be compensated for the forfeited bond which means they will be using recovery agents to search for the missing defendant or even worse yet, the defendant’s indemnitor may be financially on the hook for the bond if something can’t be figured out.
Indemnitors may be held liable
As we pointed out in the last section, when a defendant skips out on bail, it can cause a lot of problems for whoever co-signed to help them get released. The bail bond agency will always do the best that they can to recover the agent and work with the indemnitor but if all else fails, they will be on the line for the bond which can be financially crippling.
The defendant will immediately be arrested when caught
The last consequence of fleeing is that overall it is just a huge risk. If the defendant gets caught, which most likely will happen, then not only will be re-arrested immediately but most likely new charges will be added on top of extra fees and less freedom. In the end, while showing up to the hearings may not be fun and can be stressful, not showing up can just overall make things so much worse.
