People v. Accredited Surety and Casualty etc.

Appellant Accredited Surety and Casualty Company, Inc. (Surety), appeals from the denial of its motion to set aside summary judgment, discharge forfeiture and exonerate bail. Surety posted a bail bond for the release from custody of one Ji Liang Cheng who failed to appear for sentencing, causing bail to be forfeited. When Cheng was not produced within the extended statutory time period within which Surety could move for relief from the forfeiture, the court entered summary judgment against Surety. Surety then moved to set aside the summary judgment, discharge the forfeiture and exonerate the bail, which the court denied. Surety’s appeal from that order challenges the sufficiency of the notice of forfeiture served upon it, and the timeliness of the summary judgment. We conclude that the notice to Surety, a professional surety, although easily capable of improvement, satisfied due process requirements, and that although the summary judgment was entered beyond the statutory deadline, Surety is estopped to complain because it acquiesced in the scheduling error leading to the late entry of the summary judgment.

Background

On January 13, 2010, through a bail bond agent,…