People v. N. River Ins. Co.

244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 432, 31 Cal. App. 5th 797
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedDecember 19, 2018
DocketF075035
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 432 (People v. N. River Ins. Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. N. River Ins. Co., 244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 432, 31 Cal. App. 5th 797 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018).

Opinion

MEEHAN, J.

*801INTRODUCTION

Surety The North River Insurance Company (North River) and its bail agent, real party in interest Bad Boys Bail Bonds (Bad Boys) (collectively appellants), appeal from the trial court's conditional bond exoneration order of November 16, 2016. After fleeing the state, the criminal defendant was found and extradited from the State of Washington to Stanislaus County (County), and the court ordered appellants' $75,000 bail bond exonerated under Penal Code section 1305, subdivision (c)(1).1 Upon request of County, the court conditioned the exoneration of the bond on the payment of expenses in the amount of $5,323.61 for the costs of extradition.

Appellants challenge a portion of the costs awarded, specifically $3,161.79 awarded to County to recoup the wages and benefits owed to the two law enforcement officers who transported defendant. Appellants contend the payment of those expenses was unauthorized under section 1306, subdivision (b), because the statute only authorizes payment of expenses to the People of the State of California, not to County, and, further, the wages and benefits of the officers were not the type of expenses authorized under the statute. Upon review, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Stanislaus County District Attorney charged defendant Amanda Sanchez with two criminal counts, a felony and a misdemeanor. The trial court set bail at $75,000. In June 2016, Bad Boys, as the agent for North River, posted a $75,000 bond for defendant's release. The terms of the bond provided that, if defendant failed to appear in court, judgment may be entered summarily against North River as provided by sections 1305 and 1306. Defendant failed to appear at a hearing on June 8, 2016. The trial court declared the bond forfeited and issued a bench warrant for defendant.

On August 10, 2016, the district attorney filed an application in Stanislaus Superior Court for requisition of defendant from the State of Washington. On November 10, 2016, two law enforcement officers traveled to Washington and transported defendant back to Stanislaus County. Four days *435later, County filed an application, along with supporting declarations, for costs under section 1306, subdivision (b), for extraditing defendant. The application included itemized *802claim forms detailing expenses incurred to extradite defendant. Of the total of $5,323.61 in expenses, $2,161.82 was for travel expenses, including, but not limited to, airfare, rental car, lodging and food, and $3,161.79 was for hourly wages and benefits for the time the officers spent traveling to extradite defendant.

The court held a hearing on the exoneration of the bond. At the hearing, appellants requested a continuance to address the costs requested by County. The court denied the request, based on its understanding that it was required to immediately exonerate the bond and award the costs. However, the court informed appellants that they would have 30 days to file a motion for relief from payment of the costs, should they choose to do so. Accordingly, the court exonerated the bond, awarded County the total amount of costs requested, and entered judgment. Appellants did not move for relief from the judgment. Rather, they paid the costs under protest and filed the instant appeal.2

DISCUSSION

Appellants present two challenges to the costs awarded to County. First, they question whether County, as opposed to the State of California, has standing to seek reimbursement for extradition expenses under section 1306, subdivision (b), and, second, whether those expenses reasonably would include the wages and benefits of the officers who conducted the extradition.3

I. Law Applicable to Bail4

"[E]xcept for capital crimes when the facts are evident or the presumption great," a criminal defendant has a right to be "released on bail *803by sufficient sureties ...." ( Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (f)(3).) The most common mechanism for obtaining release is a bail bond, which rests upon two different contracts between three different parties: The surety contracts with the government to " ' "act[ ] as a guarantor of the defendant's appearance in court under the risk of forfeiture of the bond," ' " and the defendant contracts with the surety to pay a premium for the bond and to provide collateral in the event of his or her nonappearance. ( People v. Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc. (2016) 2 Cal.5th 35, 42, 211 Cal.Rptr.3d 79, 384 P.3d 1226 ( Financial Casualty ), quoting People v. American Contractors Indemnity Co. (2004) 33 Cal.4th 653, 657, 16 Cal.Rptr.3d 76, 93 P.3d 1020 ( American Contractors ).) *436If the defendant does not appear as ordered "without sufficient excuse," the trial court can declare the bond forfeited in open court ( § 1305, subd. (a)(1) ) or, if the court "has reason to believe that sufficient excuse may exist for the failure to appear," continue the case for a "reasonable" period of time "to enable the defendant to appear" (§ 1305.1). Forfeiture is the general rule. ( Financial Casualty , supra , 2 Cal.5th at p. 42, 211 Cal.Rptr.3d 79, 384 P.3d 1226 ["When the surety breaches [its] contract [with the government] by failing to secure the defendant's appearance, the bond generally must be enforced."].)

Once the bond is forfeited, the surety has 185 days to move to vacate the forfeiture. ( § 1305, subds. (b)(1), (c).) This is often called the "appearance period." ( American Contractors , supra , 33 Cal.4th at p. 658, 16 Cal.Rptr.3d 76,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
244 Cal. Rptr. 3d 432, 31 Cal. App. 5th 797, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-n-river-ins-co-calctapp5d-2018.