I am a 39 year old school board member and volunteer, active in the community, have held my wonderful job at a large corporation for seven years, have an over 800+ credit score rating, and that may be why my friends and family could not believe it when I told them that I was in jail (seriously, I still can't believe it myself. Our "justice" system is a joke and the police are not there to protect you).
Honesty and integrity are not words you often hear associated with people associated with the for profit prison corporation but I cannot say enough about Scott Stevenson.
When I was originally arrested (after calling the police myself because I was fearful and had visible injuries from my husband), the arresting officer told me that I shouldn't count on getting him that evening (it was about 8:30 when the arrest occurred). Another officer told my boyfriend that I could be home around an hour later if all the paperwork and bail got pushed through. In the transport vehicle over to the San Jose downtown facility (where the officers were at least mostly decent, though they denied me hand sanitizer during COVID, wtf), the officer told me that for domestic cases that bail is never offered and that if I'm lucky a judge will see me the next day (Friday) and that if he couldn't get to me that I would sit there for at least the weekend.
When they were booking me, the officer told me that it really depended on how quickly the judge was able to receive my paperwork and set bail. That officer (a lady) was actually pretty sympathetic, I felt, and at least treated me like I was a person. She tried to explain bail to me because I never expected to be in this position (and never hope to again) and I wasn't panicking as they placed me into the holding cell.
There was a huge board with a list of bail bonds people and I chose Scott Stevenson (luckily ! I cannot stress that I was so lucky to have chosen him). A lot of the other bail bonds people's business names had a little ^ next to their name on the board, and if you read the fine print, it says that those businesses had complaints that were investigated and found to be justified .. I wanted to avoid those.
Scott picked up immediately and I was struck by how calm, reassuring, and knowledgeable he was. He knew the times the court house would close, was straightforward with me what I could expect, and told me that I could call him at any time. I had a really good feeling hanging up the phone with him and I expected bail to be set soon as all the officers (the ones at the downtown place) made it seem like it could be anywhere from when I arrived to 1 am (I guess when the judge left), or around 5 am (when the place reopened).
At 3 AM, I was transferred to Elmwood with two other women I got to know in the holding cell. They wouldn't answer me when I asked where I was going (the beginning of me asking questions to my case and receiving no answers). I figured I would be there for maybe two or three hours.
Many, many hours later (I won't even get into the despair and loneliness of that place, how rude and racist the officers were, or how they lied to me repeatedly or mocked me), I asked for the first time whether I could make a phone call because no one knew where I was, and asked the status of my case. That first officer was the only one who treated me like I was a person. He looked up my case for me, told me that it was still pending and that I had a court date set for Tuesday (four days away), and that I could expect to stay there until Tuesday. He told me that starting at 1 PM they start rotating inmates out for half an hour.
When I was allowed to leave my cell at 1:45, I called Scott again and he remembered me from the night before. He could not believe that I was still there. He told me that he was immediately getting into the car and that he would be down at the court house in 20 minutes. He also explained how bail worked to me, explained to me that if I had someone who could pay cash bail that I could bypass him and not really have to pay anything bail wise in the long run (how honest is that !), and even offered to call my mother or sister for me. I was touched that a complete stranger would do this for me, and in an extremely dark time, he was the only light I had and gave me hope. I was trusting Scott to help get me out before the weekend (I was so scared that I would spend a weekend there).
And he did.
This may sound cliché, but Scott really showed me that there are good people in the world. He remembered me and cared about me, a person he had never met. He had told my boyfriend, "We are going to get her out today."
My sister, mother, and boyfriend all had really great things to say about Scott (and if you know Asian moms, it's very rare to hear positive things out of them !). I really wish there was a way I could show how much I appreciate all of his help. I was so isolated and no one would help me. All I had was Scott, and he came through for me. read more
