Specter calls hearing on Phila. bail system, same one Colorado has purposed

Concerned about what he called a “fugitive crisis” in Philadelphia, U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter has invited top court officials who administer the city’s bail system and track fugitives to a hearing Tuesday at the National Constitution Center.

Specter said yesterday that the number of fugitives who have jumped bail in the city – at last count, about 47,000 – was unacceptable. “You can’t try cases without defendants,” he said.

Fugitives also owe the city $1 billion in forfeited bail, and the city’s efforts to collect that money have been almost nonexistent.

The Senate subcommittee hearing is the second called by Specter after an Inquirer series documented a court system in crisis – with low conviction rates, an epidemic of witness intimidation, a serious fugitive problem, and a large number of cases tossed out of court each year without any decision on the merits.

The newspaper’s analysis of Philadelphia court data from 2007 and 2008 found that one in every three defendants failed to appear for at least one court hearing and that federal comparative studies rank Philadelphia and Essex County, N.J. – home of Newark – as having the nation’s worst fugitive rates.

A key witness at the 9:30 a.m. hearing is expected to be Clerk of Quarter Sessions Vivian T. Miller, whose office collects bail and oversees bail forfeitures by fugitives. Miller, 73, who is paid $110,000 a year, has been at the center of a chorus of criticism in recent weeks.

The chief justice of Pennsylvania, Ronald D. Castille, last week ordered the courts to absorb most of the functions of the clerk’s office, even as Miller, an elected official, remains in place.

Also last week, the Committee of Seventy, the government watchdog group, urged the city to abolish the clerk’s office, which it described as “mismanaged.”

And just yesterday, City Controller Alan Butkovitz issued a critical audit of Miller’s office for failing to properly account for the $1 billion fugitives owe.

Specter also has asked District Attorney Seth Williams to testify, along with David Preski, a top court administrator who oversees the warrant unit charged with apprehending fugitives, and John Patrignani, acting U.S. marshal for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The marshal’s office oversees a regional task force charged with apprehending the city’s most-wanted criminals.

Sen Williams and the death of a pregnant woman

DA has Sen. Williams case
Accused of killing a pregnant Texas woman in car accident; case to Grand Jury

Peter Marcus, DDN Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Texas district attorney says a Grand Jury could hear a criminal case against state Sen. Suzanne Williams as early as mid-May.
Charges have not been filed yet against Williams stemming from a post-Christmas car accident that investigators believe she caused that took the life of a pregnant Texas woman.
Williams, D-Aurora, said on Wednesday that she is simply waiting for the Grand Jury date, acknowledging the long investigation that has been underway.
“We’ve just got to go through the process, believe me, I know what processes are about,” said Williams, vice-chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.
Williams declined to comment on whether she is concerned that she could be facing a very serious felony charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Her attorney, prominent Denver attorney David Lane, said on Wednesday that he is optimistic no charges will be filed against his client.
“I am optimistic that there will be no finding of any criminal wrongdoing,” he said.
Hartley County District Attorney David Green told the Denver Daily News on Wednesday that he would like to bring the case to a Grand Jury when it meets next on May 18th.
“Whether I think there’s any criminal charges there or not, the case had so much publicity that I want a Grand Jury to look at it,” said Green.
He said Williams could be facing criminally negligent homicide, what would be the equivalent of a Class 4 or Class 5 felony in Colorado.
Texas law considers the charge to be a “state jail felony,” meaning she would be sentenced to a minimum-security prison for anywhere from six months to two years. Williams would not be eligible for early release, but following her sentence she would not have to face parole; she would simply be done with her sentence, according to Green.
The district attorney said he had not had a chance to review the nearly 2-inch thick report the Amarillo District Crash Reconstruction Team dropped off at his office yesterday.
Investigators said the investigation took so long because it had been hampered by bad weather around the time of the accident.
Green believes investigators would have recommended charges against Williams, if they felt charges were warranted. But Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Trooper Gabriel Medrano declined to say on Wednesday whether charges had been recommended.
The accident took place on the evening of Dec. 26 when Williams’ Honda CRV veered into oncoming traffic on a highway in Hartley County, striking a GMC Yukon carrying a pregnant 30-year-old Brianna Michelle Gomez and her family. Gomez died from injuries caused by the accident. Her unborn child, Curren, was delivered by cesarean section and remained in critical condition before being allowed home. Her husband, Eric Gomez, and two children survived the accident.
The case raised eyebrows because of Sen. Williams’ tough stance in Colorado on seat belt laws. She has pushed for legislation in Colorado that makes seat belt offenses a primary offense. She has also co-sponsored legislation requiring children under 8 in Colorado to be fastened into safety seats.
Investigators said in their initial crash report that Williams’ two grandchildren and her son were in the vehicle at the time of the accident, not wearing their seat belts or strapped into safety seats.
The report said that immediately following the accident, Williams moved one of her grandsons, who was ejected from the vehicle, into a safety seat. The move has raised questions as to whether she was attempting to cover up the alleged violation.
Meanwhile, Eric Gomez says he has few hard feelings about the accident that took his wife and critically injured his unborn child.
“I don’t really pay too much attention … I don’t know a whole lot, but I’m not trying to find out either,” Gomez recently told the Denver Daily News. “I’m not going to be the one who judges her, so it’s not a big deal. It’s not in my hands.

Dog The Bounty Hunter’s Political Foe Facing Charges In Crash That Killed Pregnant Woman

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/04/dog-bounty-hunter%E2%80%99s-political-foe-facing-charges-crash-killed-pregnant-woman

y Radar Staff

A key backer of a political bill that could put Dog the Bounty Hunter and other bail bondsmen out of business is facing a grand jury probe that could put her behind bars for a car crash that killed a pregnant woman.

Colorado state Senator Suzanne Williams is a key supporter of a bill that would allow convicted criminals to post their own bail, effectively replacing bounty hunters like Duane Chapman with the government. The problem, say opponents of the bill, is that it would flood society with criminals and no one to chase them down and bring them back to face charges if they skip court appearances.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Mugshots

As RadarOnline reported, Chapman and wife Beth have been in Colorado opposing the bill and trying to meet with its sponsor, Sen. John Morse, but he has ducked them. Beth mobilized her 140,000 Twitter followers with a series of Tweets about the bill and how Morse has been ducking the Chapmans.

Now, the Denver Daily News has revealed shocking details about Williams, who supports the bill. She was involved in a crash on Dec. 26 and a Texas grand jury will likely review the case, according to district attorney David Green.

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He told the paper that Williams could face criminally negligent homicide charges.

While Williams supports letting criminals post bail without bondsmen involved, she has been the subject of a lengthy criminal investigation. Williams’ Honda veered into traffic, causing a crash that killed a 30-year-old pregnant woman.

Williams has pushed tough legislation in Colorado requiring seatbelts but the Denver Daily News reported that investigators said her son and two grandchildren, who were in the car at the time of the crash, were not wearing seatbelts. Williams lawyer says he is confident no criminal charges will be filed against her.

The paper also says the initial investigative report claimed Willams moved one of her grandchildren into a safety seat after the accident raising questions of a coverup.

The revelation about Williams adds a new dimension to the fight in Colorado and the appearance that Sen. Morse is ducking the famous Bounty Hunter who believes this bill will put dangerous criminals on the street with no one to chase them if they flee.

A Great Piece on how this proposed bail system will hurt Colorado

FULL CREDIT TO THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE.
Home
OUR VIEW: Politicians want public to pay for bail (vote on it)
Wayne Laugesen
04/19/2011 8:22 AM

We do not need another government takeover of another private industry.

In the midst of recession and general public uncertainty, SB186 would put our local courthouses in the bail-bonding business. It could easily put taxpaying bond agents, who employ thousands of taxpayers throughout Colorado, right out of business. Even worse, suspects who are free on bond would also be free from a bonding agent with a financial incentive to bring them to justice. (Read the bill, read the fiscal note)

SB186 may be the worst bill to emerge from the 2011 General Assembly, and The Gazette hopes it won’t survive the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday.

“It is a government solution to a system that’s not broken,” said Sen. Kent Lambert, R-Colorado Springs, who serves on the appropriations committee and plans to oppose the bill. “I’m concerned about conflicts of interest this would create. Judges and prosecutors should not also run the bail system.”

The bill would allow a judicial district to post the bond for a suspect, with the defendant paying interest to the courts instead of a bonding agent. At a bond rate of 15 percent, a suspect with a $10,000 bond would pay the court $1,500 in return for freedom. Half the money would pay for pretrial services, such as drug tests and monitoring services, and half could be returned to the suspect upon completion of the case. If convicted, the remaining money would pay fines, fees, costs, surcharges and restitution.

The Gazette spoke with a variety of the bill’s supporters, who each believe it would create an additional option for suspects to get out of jail. We think they are mistaken. The Gazette believes SB186 would quickly establish a state monopoly, leaving suspects at the mercy of a system that sets bail, posts bail and profits from bail.

“This puts us out of business,” said Bobby Brown, an El Paso County resident who may be the country’s best-known bail bondsman.

The Gazette spoke with Rep. Mark Waller, R-Colorado Springs, who sponsors a House version of the Bill. We spoke with El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa, who supports SB186. We also spoke with Christie Donner, of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, who supports it. All are trusted sources respected by The Gazette. None could assure us the proposed system would reduce jail populations. None convinced us it would not destroy a private system that serves Colorado effectively. None convinced us the new system would work better than what we have. They just kinda-sorta think it’s a good idea.

Under the current system, suspects go through the yellow pages and find an array of lenders eager to post bond for a fee. Bonding agents routinely make creative deals that result in lower rates, because most suspects cannot come up with 10 percent or 15 percent of a bond. They allow suspects to use collateral in lieu of cash. They assume the risk, and have every incentive to make sure suspects show up in court on time. They travel coast-to-coast to rein in suspects who skip court dates, protecting their reputations and investments.

(Vote in poll to the right in red type. Must vote to see results. Thanks.)

If SB186 puts private agents out of business, the burden of bailed-out suspects becomes the public’s. We will be left with 9-to-5 public employees to ensure that suspects appear in court. These employees will have nothing to lose when suspects skip court, because they will have nothing invested.

We will likely have more suspects who cannot make bail in the first place. By state law, the courts will be able to charge defendants up to 15 percent of a bond and it’s unlikely our judicial employees will jump through hoops — as agents in the hyper-competitive private market do — to free defendants from jail. Public employees will make no more, no less if a suspect sits behind bars or goes free. Private agents, by contrast, profit from the release of suspects. That means they work hard to make it happen.

Colorado cannot afford a risky foray into government bail-bonding, especially one that’s likely to kill a private industry that protects our interests and feeds thousands of taxpaying Colorado families. The system is not broken. Do not take chances with a flaky bill that attempts to fix it, with the potential of dire consequences.

Proposed Colorado Bail System Much Like Philadelphia’s Mess

In Philadelphia, large numbers of fugitives are skipping bail and fleeing justice, angry District Attorney Seth Williams told the Senate at a subcommittee hearing, and this “broken” bail system is like a second assault on crime victims.
Williams said Philadelphia defendants defeat the system by failing to show up for court, wearing down witnesses and causing cases to collapse in large numbers. So far, Philadelphia has let almost 47,000 fugitives escape. Between 2007 and 2008 over 19,000 defendants have failed to show up for at least one hearing. This means one out of every three defendants, making it the nation’s highest tally for failure-to-appear.
Philadelphia courts took over the bail bond process about 40 years ago, citing widespread corruption within the bail bond industry as their reason. Under the city’s bail system, defendants pay 10 percent of their bail up front to the court, with the other 90 percent due if they skip their court dates. But the city has never backed up the consequences for skipping by collecting that money. Now fugitives owe Philly a grand total of $1 billion in forfeited bail.
Contrast this to private bail such as the system in California. Bail agents underwrite bonds to the court and the defendant, or a representative of the defendant, pays 10% to the bondsman. If the defendant doesn’t show up for court, the bondsman brings the individual back to court or pays the court the full bail amount. The bondsman clearly has significant financial insentive to make sure the defendant appears in court. The private system works and costs the public nothing. The forfeiture rate utilizing the private bail system is less that 2%.
Dennis A. Bartlett, executive director of the American Bail Coalition, believes Philadelphia could solve its problems by ‘ditching’ government-run bail. He says private companies have a far better track record of getting defendants into court, which are findings that both academic and federal research reports support.
DA Williams and other witnesses said it was past time for the city to revamp this system. U.S. Senator Arlen Spector (D – PA), who launched the hearing, agrees. Besides describing the broken bail system and high fugitive count, there has also been widespread cases witness intimidation. Pennsylvania has the nation’s worst felony-conviction rate, with defendants going free in nearly two-thirds of all criminal cases.
U.S. Rep Joe Sestak (D – PA), who is Specter’s opponent in the Democratic primary, called for a nationwide study on how to reform bail. Under his proposal, Philadelphia might be selected as a place to test the best new approaches. Specter, however, feels that private bail companies are the answer.
We have to agree: the private bail system has a long-standing record that is second to none. It works.

Great Quote Regarding This Foolish Colorado Bill

“it is in the worst tradition of Democratic Government to weigh the freedom of an individual based upon a direct financial interest in the individuals Freedom.
In the case of a straight PR bond the government has no financial interest

How to save Dog and the bail industry in Colorado

Phone and write these people and be nice

Lucia Guzman 303 866-4862 Luciaguzman.senate@state.co.us Please Call and politely let them know how you feel about SB186! #VoteNoSB186
Angela Giron angelagiron.senate@state.co.us 303-866-4878
Bob Bacon 303-866-4841 E-mail: bob.bacon.senate@state.co.us
Joyce Foster : joyce.foster.senate@state.co.us Joyce Foster 303-866-4857
Betty Boyd 303-866-4857 E-mail: betty.boyd.senate@state.co.us
Senator Williams Phone: 303.866.3432 suzanne.williams.senate@state.co.us

Please call and email and let them know you do not support BILL SB186 A bill that will kill bail bonds in Colorado.

http://www.dogthebountyhunter.com/FanClub/article.aspx?id=212&src=widget03 for more information on the bill

Source is

@officialdognews

Facts about this Horrible Bail Bill

1) It will throw 500 bondsman out of work
2) The bill makes no provision to ensure those released from custody will appear in court, which is the bail industry’s stock in trade. There will be no system in place to recover collect the outstanding 90 percent from those who fail to appear
3) It puts big government in competition with private industry.
4) It would allow so-called 10 percent deposit bail, a method that has been a disaster in jurisdictions where it’s permitted.

SAY NO TO COLORADO BILL #186 TAXPAYERS MONEY FOR CRIMINALS

Tweeted by Dog Chapman

DogBountyHunter Duane Dog Chapman
Yes true if this Colorado Bill passes I will Retire then & there need everyones help to kill Bill !

Email the sponsors and tell them how wrong this is

Pls email at mark.waller.house@state.co.us and john.morse.senate@state.co.us

If you want to know more, go to http://www.denverpost.com/billjohnson/ci_17588719