The results of this survey indicate that pretrial custody has no significant effect on conviction outcome but is an important factor at the sentencing stage. In terms of pretrial misconduct, the data indicated no relationship between type of bail and court appearance of rearrest rate. The proportion of bonded persons who escaped prosecution was low, ranging from 6 percent to 2 percent. Based on these findings the article offers three strategies to combat bail abuse other than a general restriction of bail: speedier trials, reducing the extent of multiple arrests during the pretrial period, and improving methods of supervision of bonded defendants. (Publisher abstract)