People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co.

132 Cal. App. 4th 1134, 34 Cal. Rptr. 3d 199, 2005 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8542, 2005 Daily Journal DAR 11608, 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 2332
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 22, 2004
DocketNo. C044702
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 132 Cal. App. 4th 1134 (People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., 132 Cal. App. 4th 1134, 34 Cal. Rptr. 3d 199, 2005 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8542, 2005 Daily Journal DAR 11608, 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 2332 (Cal. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinion

[1138]*1138Opinion

HULL, J.

Accredited Surety and Casualty Company (Accredited) appeals from an order denying its motions to vacate the forfeiture of a bail bond, and from the summary judgment entered in favor of the People on the forfeiture of that bond. We affirm.

Background Relating to Bail Bond Statutes

As the California Supreme Court recently outlined: “When a person for whom a bail bond has been posted fails without sufficient excuse to appear as required, the trial court must declare a forfeiture of the bond. (Pen. Code, § 1305, subd. (a) [unspecified statutory references that follow are to the Penal Code].) The surety that posted the bond then has a statutory ‘appearance’ period in which either to produce the accused in court and have the forfeiture set aside, or to demonstrate other circumstances requiring the court to vacate the forfeiture. If the forfeiture is not set aside by the end of the appearance period, the court is required to enter summary judgment against the surety. (§ 1306, subd. (a).)” (People v. American Contractors Indemnity Co. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 653, 657 [16 Cal.Rptr.3d 76, 93 P.3d 1020], fn. omitted.)

“While bail bond proceedings occur in connection with criminal prosecutions, they are independent from and collateral to the prosecutions and are civil in nature. [Citation.] ‘The object of bail and its forfeiture is to insure the attendance of the accused and his obedience to the orders and judgment of the court.’ [Citations.] ‘In matters of this kind there should be no element of revenue to the state nor punishment of the surety.’ [Citation.] Nevertheless, the ‘bail bond is a contract between the surety and the government whereby the surety acts as a guarantor of the defendant’s appearance in court under the risk of forfeiture of the bond.’ [Citation.] Thus, when there is a breach of this contract, the bond should be enforced.” (People v. American Contractors Indemnity Co., supra, 33 Cal.4th at pp. 657-658.) “The surety enters a contract with the bailee which encompasses the risk that the bailee will not appear and has charged a fee which presumably is sufficient to provide a profitable enterprise despite occasional forfeitures of bail. . . .” (Continental Cas. Co. v. State of California (1974) 41 Cal.App.3d 259, 262 [115 Cal.Rptr. 868].)

In order to place Accredited’s claims in their proper context, we provide an overview of the pertinent statutory provisions, and we review general principles relating to their interpretation.

Section 1305 sets forth the provisions for vacating a forfeiture and exonerating a bond. Section 1305, subdivision (c)(3), the primary provision at [1139]*1139issue in this appeal, provides: “If, outside the county where the case is located, the defendant is surrendered to custody by the bail or is arrested in the underlying case within the 180-day [appearance] period, the court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bail.”

A forfeiture may be vacated under other circumstances as well, and Accredited raises issues relating to three of these provisions. Section 1305, subdivision (d) provides relief from forfeiture in cases of permanent disability if two conditions are “made apparent to the satisfaction of the court,” namely, that (1) the “defendant is deceased or otherwise permanently unable to appear in the court due to illness, insanity, or detention by military or civil authorities,” and (2) the defendant’s absence “is without the connivance of the bail.”

Section 1305, subdivision (f) provides: “In all cases where a defendant is in custody beyond the jurisdiction of the court that ordered the bail forfeited, and the prosecuting agency elects not to seek extradition after being informed of the location of the defendant, the court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond . . . .”

Finally, section 1305, subdivision (g) provides: “In all cases of forfeiture where a defendant is not in custody and is beyond the jurisdiction of the state, is temporarily detained, by the bail agent, in the presence of a local law enforcement officer of the jurisdiction in which the defendant is located, and is positively identified by that law enforcement officer as the wanted defendant in an affidavit signed under penalty of pejjury, and the prosecuting agency elects not to seek extradition after being informed of the location of the defendant, the court shall vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond . . . .”

Section 1305 “must be strictly construed in favor of the surety to avoid the harsh results of a forfeiture . . . .” (People v. Granite State Insurance Co. (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 758, 769 [7 Cal.Rptr.3d 887]; see County of Los Angeles v. Surety Ins. Co. (1984) 162 Cal.App.3d 58, 62 [208 Cal.Rptr. 263].) However, the surety company bears “the burden of coming forward with a request [for relief from forfeiture under section 1305] and making the necessary showing within the statutory time frame . . . .” (People v. American Bankers Ins. Co. (1991) 233 Cal.App.3d 561, 570 [284 Cal.Rptr. 617].) It is the bonding company’s obligation “to establish by competent evidence that its case falls within the four comers” of section 1305. (People v. Ramirez (1976) 64 Cal.App.3d 391, 398 [134 Cal.Rptr. 511].)

“ ‘The determination of a motion to set aside an order of forfeiture is entirely within the discretion of the trial court, not to be disturbed on appeal [1140]*1140unless a patent abuse appears on the record. [Citations.]’ [Citation.] ‘ “The burden is on the party complaining to establish an abuse of discretion, and unless a clear case of abuse is shown and unless there has been a miscarriage of justice a reviewing court will not substitute its opinion and thereby divest the trial court of its discretionary power.” [Citations.]’ ” (County of Los Angeles v. Nobel Ins. Co. (2000) 84 Cal.App.4th 939, 944-945 [101 Cal.Rptr.2d 320].)

Facts and Procedural History

On October 29, 2002, Accredited posted a $30,000 bail bond in Sutter County for Robert Franklin Williams. When Williams failed to appear for a scheduled pretrial hearing on November 6, 2002, the court issued a warrant for his arrest.

The following day, November 7, 2002, the court mailed a notice of bail forfeiture to Accredited and its bail agent, Sean Vita Bail Bonds (Vita) and informed them that the forfeiture would become final on May 11, 2003. (See § 1305, subd. (b).)

On April 1, 2003, Vita filed a motion in propria persona on behalf of itself and Accredited to vacate the forfeiture and exonerate the bond, citing section 1305, subdivision (c)(3). As already noted, this provision applies “[i]f, outside the county where the case is located, the defendant is surrendered to custody by the bail or is arrested in the underlying case . . . .” The filed motion contained conflicting information, stating at one point that defendant was “in the custody of the Sutter County Jail” and at another point that “defendant was on March 13, 2003, in the custody of the Logan County Detention Center, Russellville, Kentucky, and was released on a $1,000 bond signed by defendant’s daughter . . . .” Four paragraphs later, the motion stated that “defendant had been in the custody of the Yuba County Jail from October 26, 2002, to the present[.]”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
132 Cal. App. 4th 1134, 34 Cal. Rptr. 3d 199, 2005 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 8542, 2005 Daily Journal DAR 11608, 2004 Cal. App. LEXIS 2332, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-accredited-surety-casualty-co-calctapp-2004.