People v. The North River Insurance Co. CA3

I. BACKGROUND

On October 18, 2021, defendant Michael Barker failed to appear at his arraignment. The trial court ordered a bench warrant and set bail at $10,500. North River subsequently posted a bond in this amount.

1 Defendant appeared through counsel at the court hearing on June 10, 2022, and in person at court hearings on July 19, 2022, August 16, 2022, September 13, 2022, and October 18, 2022. At the October 18 hearing, defense counsel requested December 14 for the preliminary hearing. The trial court proposed they set it for “the week before.” Defense counsel responded, “That will be in the middle of some other stuff.” The preliminary hearing was ultimately set for December 14. The court told defendant, “You are ordered to personally appear there.” Defendant failed to appear at the preliminary hearing on December 14. Defense counsel stated his appearance and said nothing else. The trial court stated: “The matter is on for preliminary hearing this morning. Mr. Barker is not present. It’s indicated that he is out on bail of 10,500. That bail was posted. He was to be here this morning. He is not here. We cannot proceed. [¶] The Court will go ahead and issue a bench warrant…