Three years ago, my oldest son got arrested on a bunch of drug charges that apparently originated from an informant in his neighborhood who passed on bad information. The county sheriff swept in with a bunch of SWAT officers, arrested my son, hassled his wife, took their kids, etc. My wife and I coughed up $6500 for the bond deposit, and another $15,000 in attorney fees. Took a year to get their kids back, and the DA burned up 35 months before admitting there was no evidence or grounds for the charges, and they quietly dropped everything - like it never happened. He never went to court after the bond hearing and was never indicted.
Of course, we are still out the money. The lawyer’s fees clearly stated it was a flat rate charge and we would not get a refund, but at least he is going to get my son’s property returned and his record expunged.
The bail bond office also said it was a flat fee and no refund of any sort. During his time with them, my son checked in once a week and was a model “customer”…they didn’t have to work very hard for those dollars.
My question is whether anyone thinks we have recourse to recover some of the money, or are we just screwed? I realize we could probably go to court but that’s just throwing more money at attorneys. My wife and my daughter-in-law want their pound of flesh but I’m thinking it’s a real long shot and not worth it.