"The bail is an atrocious amount [...] It isn't appropriate for Durham"
Are the defendent's families from Durham?
You do know that the seriousness of the charge is only one consideration in determining bail, right? In some murder cases it could be $5000 and the defendent wouldn't have any way of paying it except by borrowing the money from someone who breaks legs if people default, and who charges %20 interest a week.
I'm well aware of the considerations in determining bail.
Since the bail money was borrowed at least in Reade's case, clearly there was a miscalculation when considering the defendants' financial abilities. Dave's family is considerably more well-heeled than Reade's or Collin's, yet the bail was the same for all players.
$400k bail for a case with weak evidence and no serious injuries to the alleged victim and no flight risk is pretty damn stiff.
The seriousness of the charge. That's all I need to know about you. The "seriousness" has NO CORROBORATIVE evidence.