Opinion ID: 2185088
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Transcript of the Hearing on the Motion to Set Bail

Text: Defendant's contention that the transcript of his testimony in the hearing on the motion to set bail should not be admitted at trial, is more persuasive. Unlike a probable cause hearing in which the court determines threshold questions regarding the commission of a crime, the only issue before the court in a hearing on a motion to set bail is insuring that the accused will appear as required. Reynolds v. United States, 80 S. Ct. 30, 32 (1959); 4 F. Wharton, Criminal Law and Procedure § 1808, at 649-50 (R. Anderson ed. 1957); see Note, Preventive Detention Before Trial, 79 Harv. L. Rev. 1489 (1966); Symposium, Constitutional Problems in the Administration of Criminal Law, Bail: The Need for Reconsideration, 59 Nw. U. L. Rev. 678, 678-79 (1964). Defendant's own testimony regarding the crime may be critical to a court's determination whether he should be set free pending trial. ABA Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Pretrial Release § 5.1(b) (Approved Draft, 1968). Since the law favors the release of defendants pending determination of guilt or innocence ( Id. § 1.1), a defendant should be encouraged to testify at a hearing on a motion to set bail without the fear that what he says may later be used to incriminate him. See Note, Administration of Pretrial Release and Detention: A Proposal for Unification, 83 Yale L.J. 153, 155 (1973). Of course, the need to complete legitimate investigative operations or the risk that a particular defendant will not reappear if released may require that some conditions be imposed on his release, and sometimes these conditions may result in his being unable to gain his freedom. ABA Minimum Standards for Criminal Justice, Pretrial Release § 1.1, Commentary, at 25 (Approved Draft, 1968); RSA 597:1, as amended by Laws 1974, 34:4. Both the purpose of the bail hearing to insure defendant's appearance and the strong policy of our law to avoid unnecessary deprivations of liberty require that the defendant's testimony at the bail hearing in this case be excluded from evidence at his later trial. So ordered; defendant's exceptions sustained in part.