Reasonable bail for a heinous crime?

[bill gray]

The freeway shooter in Ariz got a one million dollar cash bail set. Is bail meant to "encourage" the defendant to appear for court or is it a "pre-punishment" punishment meant to keep him in the can no matter what? I have no sympathy for the guy if he did it or how much evidence they have. ("Matching (?) crime scene fragments to a bullet from his gun) But the judge seems to acknowledge that the sky will not fall if he does post the bail since he pre-set a requirement for an electronic bracelet if that does occur. Can reasonable bail exist in the case of a horrific crime or is it a polite fiction?

[Deleted]

Bail is designed to make sure you come to court... it's also designed to make sure the community is protected from you if you are a threat to the public as well.

[Cyclops]

Yes, it is a reasonable bail. While the suspect proclaims he is innocent, and that he pawned his gun two months ago, the facts do not support that pawn claim. His ID was brought to PD attention by pawn broker who loaned agains the gun just a few days before the suspect was arrested. It was the pawning of the gun that caused the pawnbroker to contact the PD. The forensics are claimed to show a match between his ammo and gun and recovered bullet fragments at the crime scenes. So if the suspect cannot distinguish between a pawn date of several months and one of a few days, he is either a liar or delusional. In either case, best to keep him off the streets until it is sorted out.

[Just1more]

So what is the date the pawnbroker claims the gun was pawned? Either the guy is guilty or he is being used to pacify the public as they state he is a gun enthusiast. The date wasn't mentioned that i heard.

[Royinmontco]

Bail is designed to make sure you come to court... it's also designed to make sure the community is protected from you if you are a threat to the public as well.

I don't understand the second part. Say you are accused of shooting a person sniper style.... and the judge orders $1MM bail. If you are an average slob, you're stuck in jail, but if you've got family money - you're out a couple of hours after arraignment (or whatever, I've never experienced it first hand). So even if you are a public threat, you can buy your way out of it. Just another hole in our system, I guess.

[Delkal]

He shot at 10 cars.......is $100,000 bail per car unreasonable? He is not a brain surgeon with close ties to the community.

He is a total loser.

[libra8]

IMO this is not a heinous crime. No one was killed and only one person was slightly injured. 1m is to high.

[DrewPickles]

IMO this is not a heinous crime. No one was killed and only one person was slightly injured. 1m is to high.

So by that logic, if someone puts a bomb into a small church and the bomb fails to detonate, the crime is somehow not heinous and he deserves bail of less than 1 million? Just because nobody died does not make the crime significantly less serious. The guy attempted to murder 10 people. The crime is definetly serious, and the bail is more than fair

[Kramer]

So by that logic, if someone puts a bomb into a small church and the bomb fails to detonate, the crime is somehow not heinous and he deserves bail of less than 1 million? Just because nobody died does not make the crime significantly less serious. The guy attempted to murder 10 people. The crime is definitely serious, and the bail is more than fair

THIS^^^^^^^^^

[phillyd2]

Just because nobody died does not make the crime significantly less serious.

Actually that's exactly what makes it less serious. Don't know about you but if given the choice between somebody murdering me or attempted murdering me I'm not thinking too long which I'd rather have.