People v. North River Ins. Co.

250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 524, 37 Cal. App. 5th 784
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 28, 2019
DocketH045228
StatusPublished
Cited by13 cases

This text of 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 524 (People v. North 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. North River Ins. Co., 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 524, 37 Cal. App. 5th 784 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

BAMATTRE-MANOUKIAN, J.

*527*788I. INTRODUCTION

The North River Insurance Company (North River) appeals from an order denying its motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate a bail bond and from *789the subsequent judgment entered against it. North River contends that the trial court lost jurisdiction over the bond by failing to declare a forfeiture pursuant to Penal Code section 1305, subdivision (a)1 when defendant Carlos Eduardo Chirinos failed to appear at a hearing in his criminal case. For reasons that we shall explain, we will reverse the order and exonerate the undertaking.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 30, 2015, Chirinos waived arraignment in his criminal case and the trial court remanded him into custody, set bail at $50,000, and continued the matter to January 6, 2016. On January 6, 2016, Chirinos waived the statutory time requirements for his preliminary hearing and the trial court continued the case until February 3, 2016, keeping the bail as set. On January 14, 2016, Golden State Bail Bonds, an agent of North River, posted a $50,000 bail bond for Chirinos's release from custody. The bail receipt reflected that Chirinos's next court date was February 3, 2016.

Chirinos appeared in court on February 3, 2016, and the trial court continued the case until March 3, 2016. On March 3, 2016, with Chirinos present, the trial court set the case for preliminary hearing on April 7, 2016. On March 11, 2016, the district attorney filed a "notice of motion for release of documents pursuant to subpoena duces tecum, and declaration in support thereof," and calendared the motion to be heard on March 28, 2016. (Capitalization omitted.) The proof of service attached to the motion states that the public defender was served "by county pony mail." (Capitalization omitted.)

Chirinos did not appear at the March 28, 2016 hearing on the subpoenaed records. Instead, his attorney stated her appearance "on behalf of Mr. Chirinos, who is not present," and "ask[ed] that [Chirinos's] appearance be excused today." The trial court did not respond to counsel's request, but the "judge's notes" state, "[W]aived ?."2 The trial court released the subpoenaed records to the district attorney and continued the matter until April 7, 2016 for the preliminary hearing, as previously set.

There is no minute order in the record for April 7, 2016, but the "judge's notes" for that date state, "?P," and indicate that the preliminary hearing was held and the case was set for arraignment on the information on April 18, *7902016. Chirinos was arraigned on April 18, 2016, and the matter was continued until June 27, 2016. *528Chirinos failed to appear at the June 27, 2016 court date, and on June 28, 2016, the trial court ordered the bond forfeited, to be final in 180 days unless Chirinos was surrendered to the court or into custody. On December 22, 2016, the bail agent moved to extend the 180-day forfeiture period. The hearing on the motion to extend the forfeiture period was continued until March 1, 2017, and then again until March 22, 2017.

On March 6, 2017, North River filed a motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate the bail bond based on the trial court's failure to order bail forfeited on March 28, 2016, when Chirinos did not appear at the hearing on the subpoenaed records. The motion was initially calendared for March 22, 2017, but the hearing on the motion was continued several times, as was the hearing on the agent's motion to extend the forfeiture period.

The trial court heard North River's motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate the bail bond and the agent's motion to extend the forfeiture period on April 19, 2017. The court denied the motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate the bail bond, determining that a criminal defendant's "presence can be waived at a subpoena duces tecum hearing" and that Chirinos's "presence was waived. The judge's notes indicate that." The court found good cause to grant the agent's motion to extend the 180-day period and extended the forfeiture period until October 16, 2017.

North River filed a notice of appeal on October 13, 2017, appealing the trial court's denial of its motion to vacate forfeiture and exonerate the bond and the trial court's entry of "summary judgment." The trial court filed the judgment against North River on January 12, 2018.

III. DISCUSSION

North River contends that under section 1305, subdivision (a), the trial court was required to forfeit the bail bond when Chirinos did not appear at the hearing for the release of the subpoenaed records on March 28, 2016 because: (1) Chirinos's appearance at the hearing was required by section 977, subdivision (b) and former Santa Clara County Superior Court Local Rules, criminal rule 3(C)(1),3 and (2) the record does not contain a sufficient excuse for Chirinos's nonappearance. North River asserts that the trial court's failure to forfeit the bond on March 28 left the court without jurisdiction to forfeit *791the bond at a later date, including when the court did so on June 28, 2016. County counsel argues that the trial court properly did not forfeit the bail bond on March 28, 2016 because: (1) Chirinos's presence at the hearing on the subpoenaed records was not required under section 977, subdivision (b), (2) the trial court did not order Chirinos to appear at the hearing and the hearing date was not set when Chirinos was present, and (3) there is no evidence in the record that Chirinos had actual notice of the hearing. Thus, county counsel maintains that the trial court did not lose jurisdiction to forfeit the bond at a later date.

A. Legal Principles

"The forfeiture of bail and related proceedings are a matter of statutory procedure governed by sections 1305 through 1308. [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.' [Citation.] 'While bail bond proceedings occur in connection with criminal prosecutions, they are independent from and collateral *529to the prosecutions and are civil in nature.' [Citation.] In that regard, the bail bond itself 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.] When a defendant who posts bail fails to appear at a scheduled hearing, the forfeiture of bail implicates not just the defendant's required presence, but constitutes a 'breach of this contract' between the surety and the government. [Citation.] Ultimately, if the defendant's nonappearance is without sufficient excuse, it is the surety who 'must suffer the consequences.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Safety National Casualty Corp. (2016)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 524, 37 Cal. App. 5th 784, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-north-river-ins-co-calctapp5d-2019.