A bit of common sense comes to bail-jumping charges!

A person cannot be charged with bail jumping if they are actually behind bars when they criminally violate their bond, a state appeals court ruled this week.

The decision by a District III Court of Appeals panel overturns the rulings by Shawano County Circuit Judge Katherine Sloma in five separate cases filed against Aaron L. Jacobs. The appeals court ordered the dismissal of 17 bail-jumping counts he faced.

We conclude that a circuit court action sufficient to establish that a defendant is no longer “released from custody"...for purposes of (the state's bail-jumping statute), includes the issuance of a bench warrant, the revocation of bond, or the modification of bond such that a defendant cannot obtain release," Appellate Judge Gregory B. Gill Jr. wrote for the three-judge panel. He was joined in the decision by Appellate Judges Mark D. Gundrum and Lisa S. Neubauer.

The state conceded during oral argument that 14 of the bail-jumping charges could not be supported and should be dismissed. The appeals court agreed and did not go into details of those charges.

Bail jumping occurs when a person "released from custody" on bond violates the conditions of that bond, whether or not the violation is a crime.

Misdemeanor bail jumping occurs when a person out on bond on a misdemeanor charge violates the conditions of that bond. Felony bail jumping occurs when a person out on bond on a felony charge violates the conditions of that bond.

Misdemeanor bail jumping is punishable by nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine. Felony bail jumping is punishable by up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Bail-jumping charges frequently are used by prosecutors to coerce defendants to accept plea bargains they might otherwise reject.

Jacobs was facing a variety of charges in both Forest and Outagamie counties, including a felony in each, in 2019 and posted bail in both by November of that year. In February, he failed to appear for hearings in both counties and the circuit courts in each issued bench warrants.

He was arrested in March 2020 in Shawano County in an unrelated case and on the two bench warrants. While in jail, he allegedly obstructed an officer and was charged with obstructing and two counts of felony bail jumping. The latter charges were "based on the allegation that, by committing a new crime, Jacobs violated the conditions of his bonds in the Forest and Outagamie County cases," Gill said.

In June, Jacobs committed more offenses while in jail. He was charged with disorderly conduct, battery by a prisoner, throwing/discharging bodily fluid at public safety worker, and two counts of felony bail jumping.

No Wisconsin case had yet dealt with the definition of “having been released from custody” in the context of a defendant who is released on bail, but then charged with bail jumping for crimes committed when later back in custody, Gill wrote.

Bond is essentially a contract between the defendant and the circuit court, he said.

"Once the bond agreement is changed or broken—either by the court or by the defendant—and the defendant is put in custody on that specific case, the agreement is no longer enforceable," Gill said. "Prior to a defendant’s custody pursuant to the bond’s change, he or she still benefits from the original agreement with the court and therefore remains

'released.' "

"Applied to Jacobs’ cases," he wrote, "Jacobs was not 'released from custody...' at the time of the alleged violations of his bonds in the Forest and Outagamie County cases because he had been arrested on bench warrants issued by the circuit courts in both cases. ...As such, the State cannot support the seventeen bail jumping charges."