Ed. Note: The following content was provided by All American Bail Bonds who is a client of KHTS AM-1220.

You get a phone call from your son at 3 a.m., he’s in jail. He was just arrested for drunk driving. In a moment of crisis and panic, you don’t know what happens next. Bail agents at All American Bail Bonds in Santa Clarita have explained the process of arraignment.

An arraignment is the first time the arrested person appears in court to face the charges against him or her.

When your loved one is arrested, they are typically sent to the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station and arraigned within 48 business hours.

“Your loved one will never have to wait over 48 hours to see a judge unless he or she is arrested on a Thursday or Friday then it’s 48 business hours, weekends do not count, as required by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Inessa Chavez, vice president of All American Bail Bonds in Santa Clarita. “The reason being is that a judge has to determine whether there was a probably cause to arrest.”

Your loved one may appear in the Santa Clarita Court for an arraignment. The court hears: traffic cases and misdemeanors.

The court will assign the arrested a lawyer if he or she doesn’t have one.

The Assistant District Attorney will present the case against the defendant at the arraignment hearing.

The arrested person will be asked to enter a plea: guilty, not guilty or no contest:

• Guilty: The arrested person is responsible for all charges. If he or she pleads guilty to all the charges, there will be no trial. The judge will decide the punishment soon after.
• Not Guilty: The arrested person denies all charges. A trial will set for the cas
• No Contest: The arrested person doesn’t wish to fight the charges brought against him or her, but accept the charges brought against him or her as if he pleads guilty.

The judge will also set bail for the defendant and assign a date for another court appearance on arraignment.

“Bail amount can be high or low depending on the person’s previous criminal records and the severity of the case, among other things,” said Chavez. “At All American Bail Bonds in Santa Clarita, we want to ensure that all of our clients have a fair bail amount.”

The defendant can argue the initial bail set by the court is too high at the hearing.

The Eighth Amendment prohibits “excessive bail,” meaning that the bail can’t be set so high as a ploy to force a defendant to stay in jail.

If the arrested person poses as public threat or high level of flight risk, the judge may deny bail or elevate it accordingly.

“With Us You Are Never Alone”

All American Bail Bonds

23360 W. Valencia Blvd. #E

Santa Clarita, CA 91355

661-255-2245

Call Toll Free: 888-755-2245

24 hours a day — 7 days a week

If loved one in custody and they wish to talk to an All American Bail Bonds representative call:

818-990-0003 or 661-267-6777

CLIENT.SERVICES@ALLAMERICANBAILBONDS.COM