On what grounds, and on whose initiative, may a court forfeit all or part of a security deposit paid by a released person?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the order releasing the person on payment of the security deposit, which shows the deposit was paid under that provision, and the later detention order with its stated grounds. The indictment and any application by the prosecutor asking for forfeiture show which route the court was asked to take.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading holds that the court may, of its own motion or on the prosecutor's application, by a ruling forfeit all or part of the deposit, where a person released on paying it is detained again on any of the reasons set out in the provision on re-detention or, once an indictment has been brought, is detained again on the same criminal facts; and must forfeit all or part of the deposit where such a person, after being sentenced on the same criminal facts and that judgment becoming final, fails without just cause to appear on a summons for execution or absconds. All of these require that the person was released on paying the deposit, and the second requires that an indictment has been brought.
Another reading stresses that the provision sets out grounds on which forfeiture may be ordered in the two re-detention cases and must be ordered where a final sentence on the same criminal facts is followed by an unexcused failure to appear on a summons for execution or flight, but gives no measure for choosing between the whole deposit and part of it, so the items tell the court when it may or must act rather than how much it may take.
Your judgment
When forfeiture is available, what in the file could show whether the whole of the deposit or only part of it should be taken?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to set a measure for the amount forfeited, or if a court decision explains what counts as the same criminal facts for re-detention after indictment.