Lanclos, Ex Parte Allen Christopher, PD-0243-21

Appellant Allen Christopher Lanclos sought relief under Tex. Code Crim. Proc. art. 17.151 after the State was not ready for trial within 90 days.
The trial court reduced Lanclos’s total bonds from $2,250,000 to $1,500,000 (a $750,000 reduction) instead of releasing him on personal bond.
The record contained no testimonial or documentary evidence about Lanclos’s assets or ability to pay the reduced bail.
The Ninth Court of Appeals upheld the trial court, reasoning Lanclos bore the evidentiary burden to show he could not meet the bail and that the modest reduction did not constitute an abuse of discretion given the silent record.
Justice Yeary dissented in the Court of Criminal Appeals, agreeing the court of appeals correctly applied the abuse-of-discretion standard and that placing the burden on Lanclos was reasonable under these facts.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Proper standard of review for a trial court's resolution of a motion to reduce bail under Art. 17.151	Lanclos contended the trial court abused its discretion by reducing bail only slightly and not effecting release	State relied on abuse-of-discretion standard and argued reduction was reasonable	Dissent: Abuse-of-discretion is the appellate standard; when reducing bail the trial court must aim to effectuate release and make findings about an amount the accused can afford
Who bears the evidentiary burden to show inability to make bail at the set amount	Lanclos argued the court should require sufficient consideration of release; (implicitly) burden should not be placed on the accused without record support	State argued Lanclos must present evidence of his financial inability to pay bail	Dissent: Placing the burden on the accused is reasonable because the accused is best positioned to prove his financial resources
Whether reducing bail from $2,250,000 to $1,500,000 was an abuse of discretion given the record	Lanclos argued the reduction was insufficient to effectuate release under Art. 17.151	State argued the record was silent about assets, so the trial court’s modest reduction was justified	Dissent: No abuse of discretion; absent evidence of inability to pay, the trial court’s reduction was reasonable and the court of appeals properly affirmed

Ex parte Gill, 413 S.W.3d 425 (Tex. Crim. App. 2013) (trial court’s decision-making under Art. 17.151 must result in the accused’s release)
Rowe v. State, 853 S.W.2d 581 (Tex. Crim. App. 1993) (Art. 17.151 gives trial court two options: release on personal bond or reduce bail)
Kernahan v. State, 657 S.W.2d 433 (Tex. Crim. App. 1983) (record showed accused had no money or available assets)