r/AITAH • u/ShowerElectrical9342 • 4d ago

aitah for considerinf leaving my son in the county jail hospital over the weekend instead of paying $9,500.00 in bail? Advice Needed

My son hit a pregnant woman with his vehicle and broke his nose and has stitches on his lip.

He was arrested and is in the county jail hospital. He wouldn't tell me how badly injured the woman is, except that she might lose the baby.

He's a careless, distracted driver who has totalled 2 cars, which his bio dad immediately replaced with even better cars!

But now his bio dad is gone (heart attack) and I don't want to enable this dangerous driving problem.

I'm overwhelmed.

He has had accidents before, and has always been bailed out.

I'm trying to get a regular lawyer because now he says she might lose the baby and sue him.

He's 19.

But no one wants me to take the time to get a regular lawyer instead of this public defender who insists I must send the bail money NOW or my son will be in jail all weekend.

Honestly, I don't know. Maybe that would be good for him. Like a wakeup call.

He didn't mention alcohol, but why else would he he arrested for a car accident?

Help! I have to move fast!

AITAH for even thinking about letting him spend a weekend in jail?

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u/STUNTPENlS 4d ago

Let him rot in county lockup.

If the baby dies, in some states, he could be charged with vehicular manslaughter.

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u/Odd-Artist-2595 3d ago

And, if he takes off, your bail money is gone. He’s an adult. You can’t stop him if he decides to go. A weekend in jail isn’t going to hurt him in the slightest. In fact, it might do him some good. Besides, if he does get tried and sentenced to jail, the time he spends in this weekend will probably be counted toward time served. He’ll get out two days early.

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u/NeedleworkerPresent6 3d ago

The math isn’t working. Right now it is just a misdemeanor car accident, unless DUI I’m guessing. And bail isn’t set until you see a judge. ??? And by the way, you go to the hospital with an officer there and then get transported to jail after being checked out if truly hurt. This is odd.

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u/roseofjuly 3d ago

And bail isn’t set until you see a judge.

Not necessarily true. Back when we were dating, my husband went to jail for a weekend after being pulled over for a minor traffic infraction (broken taillight). He'd gotten a speeding ticket in another state, and they'd sent the ticket to the wrong address; because he hadn't paid it, there was a warrant out for his arrest.

His bail was set at $3,000 at the front end of the weekend. (Nobody had that much money, so he stayed in jail for three days.)

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u/Secret_Hunter_3911 3d ago

In some jurisdictions there is a standard bail set for minor charges. In this case where the defendant has hit and seriously injured a pregnant woman, he would go in front of a judge for bail. The $9500 bail strikes me as very low for the offense. If she loses the baby, you can expect him to be charged with vehicular manslaughter ( or similar) and his bail would be 10 times that.

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u/jimbojangles1987 3d ago

Did you know that if bail is set at 3000, you only have to pay 300 to get him out?