If a person has been charged with capital murder ...

The purpose of bail is to ensure that the person will appear for court. No bail orders are only issued when a person is proven to be a danger to society for example with a due process bail hearing where the state may present evidence to the judge that the person is unable to control their impulse to murder or because they have a history of being a serial killer with psychiatric problems or whatever. The bail if set in a murder case would be very high due to the seriousness of the crime. In Illinois bail will not be set for a capital case and can be denied per the Illinois Constitution for any case where the person may be subjected to a penalty of life in prison. It depends upon the laws of the State where the charge is brought.

on April 23,2007 in Shelby County, Tennessee (Memphis) my neighbor (52yrs old), his friend, (appx. 50 yrs old) and his friend's daughter (24 yrs old) killed her boyfriend, they are white, he was black.  His family, and rightfully so, was outraged and asked the district attoryney to consider this a hate crime. They are charged with first degree murder. my neighbors bond is 7.5 million, the father 7.0 million, and her bond was 1.0 million, however, 5 months ago her bond was lowered to $50,000, I saw her at the local pharmacy, carrying a gun, her permit is still valid, tell me how that happened and I will then show you corruption!!!!!!

In Illinois the girl would have violated her bail by keeping the gun, and you could report this to authorities and she could be taken into custody and bail increased or revoked. In Illinois, a person charged with a felony must surrender all weapons to the autorities and may not carry a gun. Reduction of bail for murder to $50,000 is atrocious. It is possible they reduced her bail if she cooperated with the  prosecutor and has agreed to testify against the other two people. Then the prosecutor may have been agreeable to reduced bail. Perhaps the girl was coerced into helping murder the victim or has a somewhat reduced culpability due to state of mind, abuse by the other perpetrators or whatever. It is hard to know why they reduced her bail without knowing the details of the crime.

It must have been a total shock for you, Susan, to see this person, and in a way scary to know someone who is a murderer with unknown mental state is on the loose. There is not much I can say to make you feel better. I suggest you talk with your religious counselor or a therapist if this shocked you so much that you are having nightmares or the effect is interfering with your life by producing intrusive thoughts. Such a shock can be quite life-altering and debilitating at times. I will keep you all in my prayers.

Check the laws (criminal statutes - or criminal procedure statutes) of your state and see if the statutes on bail state that alleged felons on bail are prohibited from carrying a weapon. As to the hate crime issue, it is not automatic that there is a hate crime if the victim's race is different from the offenders' race. The prosecutor would have to prove more than a racial difference to prosecute it as a hate crime.

I have a friend that lives in Joliet, and Illinois truly has the toughest gun laws in the country, just drive up and down your interstates. We live in a small town outside of Memphis, when I told the prosecutor, because I will have been a witness, long story, I told him and he said oh ok I'll ask the judge about that. Again, I made a 911 call later that night that involved the 2 men involved and they wanted me to testify, I said on the 911 tape that my neighbor, one of the two men, said that he killed someone earlier that day, and guns were involved in this incident.  He supoened me, I called my doctor and he wrote a letter my attorney went to the judge and I will not be at that trial!!!