Right to trial by jury?

What is the name of your state? Oklahoma

My fiancee was arrested on a misdemeanor city warrant of furnishing alcohol. The exact charge, from our municipal codes follows:

Sec. 15-305. Furnishing alcoholic beverages.
(a) No person shall sell, deliver, give, share, dispense or furnish intoxicating beverages or low-point beer to any person under the age of twenty-one (21).


Ok, here's the situation... my son gave him a ride to the liquor store to buy some alcohol for a get-together we (fiancee and I) were having over Memorial Day Weekend. They came back to the house, and my son's friend had to go check in with his mom. The alcohol was still in the trunk, momentarily forgotten about... until the boys got pulled over. The boys explained that the alcohol belonged to my fiancee, but the cops kept on them and scared the crap out of them. The alcohol NEVER left the trunk, and remained unopened. My fiancee started thinking the boys had run off with it, until he found out they were pulled over!

So, he gets arrested a couple weeks ago. It has been a nightmare.... these city laws are so different from any I have ever heard! He was taken to the police station, and sat in an office, out in the public, with just some secretaries setting around, with free access to a free telephone, etc., not handcuffed, no officers standing around watching him... it was weird! lol It took me about half an hour to get there, so by the time I arrived, a judge had arrived to start hearing cases, so he was sent to go before the judge, since I had not had time to bond him out. The judge set a bond amount, and he was released to go, agreeing to make payments with a court officer, for what he was originally pulled over for, driving without a license.

We went in to make a payment on the fine, and the court officer noticed that there was a bond, so told us we needed to get that taken care of this week. I asked lots of questions, as I have learned to do, when it comes to any legal affairs. One thing has me really confused... if we pay the entire bond ourselves... we only get it returned if he is found not guilty. While we are confident that is what should happen, I know how small towns tend to work, as well, and know things can happen that aren't exactly right. The other problem is, we don't have a lot of money, so hiring an attorney is a problem right now. I thought bonds were supposed to be to guarantee appearance??? Only one bondsman in our city takes city bonds, but we would still end up paying half of it ourselves, and, obviously, we would not get any of that returned, even if found not guilty.

Ok, now for the part that relates to my title... here, in Norman, OK, they're telling us that if we were not to post bond, for one reason or another... even if he chose to go to jail to await his court date... we would not have the right to a jury trial! Ok, I know if you go though a trial, you are expected to pay court costs, that's not the problem. My problem is in the fact that they will deny your right to a jury trial if you choose not to bond out of jail??? Isn't that one of our major constitutional rights... the right to be judged by a jury of our peers??? This entire situation is just blowing my mind!

My last question relates to this... we are not even being allowed the opportunity to speak to a prosecuting attorney or judge to request that the charges be dropped, due to a lack of evidence. It seems as though all they are concerned about is getting the money that they can charge for taking you to court.

Any suggestions at all would be very greatly appreciated. As I said, this is so different from any legal system I have ever dealt with.

You may want to call your local DA's office and the state Bar.

We had an incident similarly arranged and it was overturned by the judge commission on conduct

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed." Every state constitution carries a similar guarantee to the right to jury trial in criminal cases.

In practice, however, not all criminal prosecutions require a jury trial. The Supreme Court has consistently excluded "petty offenses," as distinguished by their punishment or the nature of the offense itself, from triggering this right. State courts, moreover, were not bound by this standard or the Sixth Amendment jury guarantee until 1968, when the Court incorporated it through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145). In both state and federal courts, an accused person still may waive the right to a trial by jury in favor of a bench trial before a judge.