No. of Recommendations: 2
Lets focus on the freshly arrested for lets say beating a defenseless woman senseless on a subway, and that innocent accused has four or five conviction for violent crimes on his record. That guy should not be released back onto the street based on his well earned threat level.
Indeed. But in that circumstance, pre-trial detention is always going to be possible. Even in California, when someone is accused of a violent felony, a judge can order pre-trial detention. In your hypothetical case, the defendant is going to be charged with at least aggravated assault and battery, and probably attempted murder. In any jurisdiction, pre-trial detention will be available in that scenario. Of course, the prosecutors still have a burden to meet. In most states, they still have to prove to the judge's satisfaction that they're likely to prevail in the criminal trial and that other forms of pre-trial restrictions aren't sufficient to protect the public. It's not automatic. But the judge will always have the ability to order pre-trial detention under those charges, where those factors have been met, in any state.
However, that's not the scenario presented in the OP article. Or in the pre-trial detention example cited by Dope1.
