SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – Whether someone arrested in Savannah gets out on bond depends on the charge, the court and the person’s past record. WTOC spoke with a local criminal defense attorney about how some of those decisions are made. According to Georgia law, someone charged with a misdemeanor is automatically entitled to a bond, though a judge can set certain conditions and a bond amount. For certain serious felonies, lower courts cannot issue a bond, but Superior Court can. In Superior Court, judges follow Georgia statute. They weigh a defendant’s background, criminal history and the facts of the case. They also consider four key risk factors. Local defense attorney Skye Musson described those factors. “So there’s main things they look for, risk to re-offend or commit a new felony if they’re released, risk to intimidate witnesses or to tamper with the case, something like that, risk to not show up to court. So if you have a client who just has 30 FTAs, failure to appears on their record, the reality is that judge is going to be a lot more nervous. And then the fourth thing is going to be their ties to the community. Are they a risk to flee?” Musson said. Musson said there is a higher burden to getting bond if someone is already on probation, because that person is already under sentence. She said bond is often only granted in those cases when the person is looking for treatment alternatives. A judge’s consideration also includes multiple continuances in a case. A person is…
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