“Sufficient Excuse” Justified Not Declararing Bail Forfeiture Upon First Nonappearance
In the unpublished case of County of Los Angeles v. American Surety Company, No. B218291 (July 28), Division Three of the Second Appellate District upheld the trial court’s denial of American Surety’s motion to set aside a summary judgment on a forfeited bail bond.В The Court rejected the County’s contention that the appeal was untimely, finding that the County had already made the same arguments and that they had been rejected before.В On the merits, the surety argued that the trial court should have ordered the bond forfeited the first time the defendant failed to appear, January 14, 2008, and not on February 5, 2008.В The Court rejected this contention.В Penal Code Section 1305 (a) allows the trial to determine there was “sufficient excuse” for a nonappearance, and here there was a representation of emergency surgery that prevented an appearance.В Therefore, there was no merit to the surety’s contention that the trial court lost jurisdiction over the bond when it failed to declare a forfeiture upon that first nonappearance.
July 28, 2010
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