Sometimes a criminal defendant will have more than one case pending at a time because he has been arrested more than once. If so, the Connecticut criminal defense lawyer representing that defendant must--if the client cannot post bond--get the client's bonds increased on ALL the cases or else the client might lose credit against a future jail sentence. Let me explain. But first two definitions so you can better understand the explanation:
(1) "Bond" refers to the amount of money a criminal defendant must post with the court or through a bondsman to get out of jail. The more serious the charge, the higher the bond (usually).
(2) "Docket Number" refers to the unique number assigned by the Connecticut Superior Court to each criminal case; each arrest gets a separate docket number.
Back to our example: assume the Farmington Police arrest "Jason" on Monday for larceny second degree. This case goes to Hartford Superior Court, gets assigned Docket No. 001, and the Judge orders a $5,000 bond. Jason posts the $5,000 and gets out of jail. On Tuesday, the Rocky Hill Police arrest Jason for assault third degree. That case goes to New Britain Superior Court, gets assigned Docket No. 002, and the Judge orders a $7,500 bond. If Dennis can't post that $7,500 bond, he will remain in jail until Case 002 is over.
While in jail, Jason earns a day-for-day credit against any future jail sentence that he might get in Case 002--but not in Case 001. Why? Because a criminal defendant in Connecticut state court earns jail credit only on cases where he didn't make bond, and in our example, Jason posted the $5,000 bond in Case 001.
So what will an experienced Connecticut Criminal Defense lawyer do in such a situation to protect Jason's interests? The lawyer should go back to Hartford Superior Court and ask the Judge to increase the bond by a nominal amount on Case 001. That way Jason would earn credit against any future jail sentence in BOTH cases.
If you have any questions or need further information regarding bonds and credits and pretrial release, please contact Atty. Ron Murphy.
