If a person is arrested for drug trafficking in Alabama, the first issue that they will face concerns bail and whether they're able to get out of jail. Alabama law permits judges and magistrates to set extremely high bail on drug trafficking cases ranging as high as one & a half million dollars. Although a person accused of any crime is presumed innocent, very frequently, judges will set extremely high amounts of bail in a drug trafficking case. When bail is over $1 million, most people cannot get out of jail. Because cases can sometimes take years to get to trial, a presumed innocent person can potentially languish in jail for years.
There are a couple of potential solutions. If someone has the financial means to post bond, they can do so. But the reality is that unless the amount of bond is set relatively low, it is unlikely that a person can afford or that his family can afford to get him out of jail.
One solution is to use bail bonding companies. A bonding company may agree to release someone from jail if they are paid approximately 10% of the bond.
In other words, if the bond is one million dollars, a bonding company may agree to bail someone out of jail if they are paid $100,000. The bonding company will typically keep that 10% fee as its payment. Whoever uses the bonding company should not expect the return of that money.
When a bond is extremely high, even 10% of the bond is often too much for loved ones to come up with. Most folks don't have $1 million or even $100,000 lying about.
There is another way that people can try to get a loved one out of jail, and that's through a lawyer who will file a motion with the court asking the judge to reduce the amount of bond. When I do this, I usually try to speak with the prosecutor first to see if they might agree to lower the bond. Either way, the lawyer will present arguments to the court to try to obtain the lowest bond possible with the hope that their client may be able to be released. Of course, just because a lawyer asked the judge to do something doesn't mean the judge will, but when somebody is stuck in jail, it's necessary to do what can be done to secure their release.
Sometimes, the only thing that can be done is to resolve the case as quickly as possible. Because the court system in Alabama is clogged, and prosecutors often prefer to allow someone to languish in jail, a defense lawyer may not successfully move the case along.
Fairly early in the case, the judge will hold what is called a felony exam. At a felony exam, the judge will typically ask the accused person whether they seek to have a lawyer appointed or if they plan to retain a lawyer. Hiring a lawyer on a drug trafficking case can be quite expensive as these cases require a lot of work and are very high-stakes. Many people have no choice but to get a court-appointed lawyer. If you or a loved one has gotten a court-appointed lawyer, that doesn't necessarily mean you're stuck with that lawyer. If you can gather sufficient funds and want to retain a lawyer, you can do so, and that lawyer can take over the case.
Most of the time, a drug trafficking case will begin in what is known as the District Court in Alabama. The District Court is the lower-level court, and for purposes of a drug trafficking case, it will handle the felony exam, as I've mentioned, and something called a preliminary hearing. A preliminary hearing is before that District Court Judge where the judge must determine if there is probable cause to believe that the person may have committed the crime they accused of. The judge is not determining if the person is guilty but only whether or not there are reasonable grounds- probable cause- to believe that the person may have committed the crime. The vast majority of the time, the judge is sufficiently satisfied by the evidence presented that the person may have committed the crime, and if the court is satisfied, he will "bond over" the case to await the action of the grand jury. This means that the judge is allowing the case to go to the next level, which is the grand jury, which will once again consider whether or not there is sufficient evidence for the case to move on to the Circuit Court.
Once in a while, a court is not satisfied with the evidence that there is reasonable grounds to believe that a person has committed a crime. In this instance, the judge can dismiss the charges and order the person released. While this seldom happens, it could potentially be the end of the case. Although it can be the end of the case, the state is not bound to agree with the judge at this point in time, and they can still present the case to the grand jury, which would decide whether or not there was sufficient evidence to formally charge the person with the crime of drug trafficking. If the judge has previously released the person and the grand jury subsequently decides that the evidence was in fact sufficient for the charge, that person can be rearrested and once again have to post bond if they wish to get out of jail.
After the case has passed from the District Court, assuming that the grand jury has found sufficient evidence to charge and that the person has been formally charged with the crime, the case will proceed to the trial-level court in Alabama.
In Alabama, the trial-level court is called the Circuit Court. At this level, the case will typically be resolved with the trial, the plea agreement, or sometimes a dismissal. It is at this level that your lawyer will indeed do what I call the heavy lifting of the case. By that, I mean your lawyer will probably need to gear up the case for trial and thoroughly investigate the circumstances of your arrest. If appropriate, your lawyer will file a variety of pretrial motions on any issues that the lawyer thinks are appropriate, and if it's a case that the accused wants to try to resolve by negotiation, his lawyer will negotiate with the prosecutor to see if the case can be resolved in that manner. Of course, if someone desires a trial, then their case would be tried before a jury, and the jury would decide, based on the evidence presented before them, whether or not the state had convinced them, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the person is guilty of what they have been accused of.
If the person is found not guilty, the case is over, and unless they have other charges, they should be free to go. However, if the person is found guilty, they face significant sentencing under Alabama's laws.
Sentencing for trafficking in Alabama has a mandatory minimum sentence for the lowest level trafficking cases of 10 years in prison, and of that 10 years, three years must be served day for day before that person is eligible for any form of release. Remember that just because someone is eligible for release does not mean they will be released. As far as issues of parole are concerned, Alabama has been quite stingy in allowing people who have been convicted of crimes to be paroled and typically will deny parole to a vast number of incarcerated individuals. The maximum sentence for drug trafficking can be 99 years or life in prison. The minimum sentence for trafficking cases will depend on a variety of factors, such as the quantity of drugs and whatever kind of criminal history the person convicted has.
After conviction, a person may have a right to appeal to the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals. If the case is negotiated to a plea agreement, then usually, part of the agreement is that the accused person waives their right to appeal, which is quite frequently the end of the story.
Sometimes, people will try to file for postconviction relief. In Alabama, this is governed by Rule 32 of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure, and while people frequently try to get relief in this manner out of desperation, most are not successful.
