This is the second report in a two-part series addressing the relationship between pretrial detention and case outcomes. The first report, which restricted the analyses to nonfelony cases, was prepared for the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator in June 2006. The full report was revised and released in November 2007 (Phillips 2007b), and it was summarized in Research Brief No. 14 (Phillips 2007a). The current report, which extends the analysis to felony cases, was prepared for the Office of the Criminal Justice Coordinator in June 2007 and will summarized in an upcoming Research Brief. In order to allow each report to stand alone, some introductory and methodological material is repeated in both full reports.
This research is an outgrowth of the Judicial Release and Bail Decision Project, which was undertaken several years ago by the New York City Criminal Justice Agency, Inc. (CJA), to analyze the factors influencing release and bail decisions in two boroughs of New York City (Phillips 2004a, 2004b; Phillips and Revere 2004a, 2004b). While the earlier research focused on antecedents of the arraignment decision, the current research examines its aftermath. The judge’s decision to release on recognizance (ROR) or to set bail at arraignment has an immediate effect on the defendant’s liberty while awaiting the outcome of the case. Detention, in turn, may affect the outcome itself. The impact of detention on case outcomes is the principal focus of this current research. In addition, the preliminary issue of the relationship between bail amount and detention is also examined.