Bail conditions in Act 54 cases

They are the “special provisions” Article 3.7 of Act 54 imposes on the system when the case is a domestic-violence one: what the court must consider before setting bail, which six conditions it must impose on the accused, what Corrections or the Parole Board must weigh before letting them out, and who must be told before they leave. It does not replace the ordinary bail rules: it is added to them.

Article 3.7(a) applies where a person is accused of violating the provisions of Act 54; where at the time of the alleged violation they were subject to the terms of a protection order issued under this Act or any similar one; or where they had previously been convicted of, or pleaded guilty to, a violation of this Act or a similar legal provision.

• That the case is for a violation of Act 54, or that the person was subject to a protection order at the time, or had a prior conviction or guilty plea under this Act or a similar one (Article 3.7(a)).Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: Before the amount: the history of disobeyed orders

   Article 3.7(a) says that, in addition to the Rules of Criminal Procedure, before setting bail the court “shall consider whether the person has a history of violating orders of a court or of a government agency”. It is not an optional factor and does not depend on anyone raising it: the Act puts it before the amount.

2. 2

   Step 2: The six conditions the court must impose

   Article 3.7(b) says the court shall impose bail conditions on the accused, and that in addition to those in the Rules of Criminal Procedure it shall impose these six: avoid all direct or indirect contact with the victim and their relatives; avoid all contact with the people sheltering the victim; leave the residence shared with the victim; refrain from intimidating or pressuring the victim or the witnesses — personally, by telephone, by other means or through third parties — so that they do not testify or so that they withdraw the charges; comply with orders on custody, support, parent-child relations, marital property and any related ones; and stay in a programme that helps them manage domestic-violence situations.

3. 3

   Step 3: The children are the exception, with their own test

   The first condition excludes the children the accused and the victim had together, “unless the court finds that the minors’ best interests require preventing parent-child contact”. To decide that, Article 3.7(b)(1) gives the court four factors: whether the accused is a danger to the minors’ welfare; whether their history shows dangerous conduct that could be detrimental to it; whether there is evidence in their history of physical and emotional abuse of the minors; and the opinion the minors express where they have asked to be heard directly or through an adult or helping professional, with the judge able to hear them in private to protect their physical and emotional integrity.

4. 4

   Step 4: Pressuring you to drop charges is a violation

   Worth isolating the fourth condition because it describes exactly what usually happens. Article 3.7(b)(4) requires the accused to refrain from intimidating or pressuring “personally, or through telephone or other communication, or through the intervention of third parties” the victim or the witnesses so that they do not testify or so that they withdraw the criminal charges filed against them. A relative’s call asking you to drop the complaint falls within that condition.

5. 5

   Step 5: Before a furlough or parole

   Article 3.7(c) says that, in addition to what corrections law and regulations establish, the Corrections Administrator or the Parole Board shall take four things into account when deciding on furloughs from penal institutions or treatment centres, or when granting parole to people convicted under this Act: whether they have a history of domestic violence or of other violent acts; whether they have a history of violating court or government-agency orders; whether they are a potential threat to anyone; and the opinion of the injured party or of those who testified, plus any other circumstance deemed pertinent.

6. 6

   Step 6: Clemency or pardon: you must be heard

   Article 3.7(d) says that when considering a petition for executive clemency or pardon by a person convicted of an offence constituting domestic violence, the Parole Board “shall notify the injured party and those who testified in order to give them the opportunity to be heard”.

7. 7

   Step 7: One hundred and twenty days before the sentence ends

   There are two notice duties and they should not be confused. Article 3.7(e) is general: before any person may be released under that section, the court, the Parole Board, the Corrections Administration and/or the Executive must notify the victim “sufficiently in advance for them to take the measures necessary to guarantee their safety”. Article 3.7(f) is the one with a date: the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation is obliged to notify the victim, in writing or electronically, of the approaching release and of the treatment received, “on or before the one hundred and twenty (120) days preceding completion of the sentence”. Staff must take affirmative steps to ensure the victim received the communication, and that is recorded in the exit file. Information that could reasonably identify you — home and postal address, telephone, workplace — is kept under the strictest confidentiality standards and cannot be given to a third party without a court’s authorisation.

Bail and its conditions are set by the Court of First Instance. Furloughs and parole are decided by the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation and the Parole Board, which also notifies and hears the injured party in clemency or pardon cases. The notice one hundred and twenty days before completion of the sentence is owed by the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation.

• Believing the Act 54 conditions replace ordinary bail rules: they are imposed “in addition to” them.
• Thinking the six conditions are discretionary: the article says the court shall impose them.
• Assuming contact through third parties does not count: the first condition says “direct or indirect” and the fourth names the intervention of third parties.
• Believing a relative’s call asking you to drop the charges is a private matter: Article 3.7(b)(4) covers it.
• Assuming the accused loses all contact with the children: the Act excepts the children they had together unless the court finds otherwise.
• Thinking the minors’ opinion is not taken: subsection (b)(1)(D) includes it, and the judge may hear them in private.
• Forgetting the person must leave the shared residence: that is the third condition.
• Believing the victim’s opinion does not count in parole: subsection (c)(4) names it expressly.
• Not knowing you must be notified in clemency or pardon: subsection (d) requires it.
• Confusing the general notice in subsection (e) with the deadline in subsection (f): the one hundred and twenty days are Corrections’ and run before completion of the sentence.
• Fearing your address travels with the notice: subsection (f) protects it and bars giving it to third parties without a court’s authorisation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov