The short answer is yes, hire a lawyer! You want an attorney by your side every step of the way when facing a serious criminal charge. In Maryland, after a person is arrested and a commissioner determines that person should be held on bond, that person is entitled to a bond review hearing in front of a District Court judge within 24 hours or the next business day. A lawyer can help at a bail review hearing to get a client released or the bond reduced to an affordable amount.
The reality of the situation may be a little more complicated. Times are tough these days financially. Money is tight for most folks. I have seen a number of families in a position where they can only get together enough money to either pay a bondsmen or hire an attorney, but they cannot afford both. When faced with this difficult decision, some families opt to just pay a bondsman. The thinking goes that the bondsman can get Johnny out right now, and Johnny’s not going to have a court date for at least another 30 days so we’ll worry about hiring a lawyer later.
However, hiring an attorney might be the smarter move and could save your family some money in the long run. Instead of dropping cash on a bondsman–which is money you will never see again–an affordable attorney, one with experience handling bail reviews, can usually be hired to handle the case. Not only can you rest easy knowing that you now have a lawyer fighting for you in all aspects of the case, but that lawyer can go into a bail review hearing and often times come out of the hearing with a reduced bond amount or another favorable outcome.
If your friend or family member was recently arrested and is facing an upcoming bail review hearing, contact attorney Christopher Peretti today at 301-875-3472. Consultations are always free. I handle all types of criminal cases, misdemeanors and felonies, in Prince George’s County, Montgomery County, DC, Anne Arundel County, Howard County, Baltimore, and throughout Maryland.