If you’ve been granted a release on bail, have posted bail, and are now walking the streets, be careful what you do while your case proceeds through the court system. Whatever the conditions of your bail may be, a violation of one or more of them can lead to serious consequences. An example was reported last week involving Linda Woodman, who was arrested in February 2012 after being involved in a fatal car crash outside the Wheatsville Food Co-op on Guadalupe Street that took the life of one man, and left a woman seriously injured. The two were pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Police say that Woodman, a registered nurse, showed signs of intoxication after the collision; they also say she told them she had just been released from the hospital that afternoon. Field sobriety tests were conducted, and the officer administering the tests says that Woodman lost her balance, swayed, and exhibited additional signs that she was under the influence of medication. She was originally charged with manslaughter and intoxication assault, but the intoxication assault charge has since been amended to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Just after the incident, Woodman’s bail was set at $25,000 on the assault charge, and $30,000 on the manslaughter charge. The bail order also contains the notation “IID”, and indicates that a condition of bail is that Woodman have an ignition interlock device (IID) installed in her vehicle. The IID requires that the driver blow into it before starting the vehicle, and periodically while the vehicle is being driven. If alcohol is detected (above the level set), the vehicle will not start.
Additional details concerning the alleged violation of the conditions of bail have not yet come to light, although we suspect that a violation of the IID order was involved. The result has been the increase of her bail to $250,000. She turned herself in and was back in jail as of last week.
Whether you have been released on bail, or if you are on probation or parole, violation of the conditions set by the judge can cost you a lot, including your freedom.
