County of Los Angeles v. Surety Insurance

Defendant appeals from a summary judgment based on a forfeiture of a bail bond. We affirm.

On April 23, 1983, defendant Surety Insurance Company posted a $5,000 bond to secure the release of Dennis L. Justice. On August 8, 1983, the date set for his appearance at a pretrial conference, Mr. Justice failed to appear. The trial court did not declare a forfeiture of the bond, but continued the case until August 17, 1983, and issued a bench warrant to be held until the later date. When Mr. Justice did not appear on August 17th, the trial court did declare a forfeiture and ordered the bench warrant served. Summary judgment on the forfeiture was entered on April 11, 1984. On May 1, 1984, defendant Surety moved to vacate the summary judgment and set aside the forfeiture. The motion was denied; defendant has appealed. We affirm.

In the trial court and here, the surety relies on People v. United Bonding Ins. Co. (1971) 5 Cal.3d 898 [ 98 Cal.Rptr. 57 , 489 P.2d 1385 ]. That reliance is misplaced. United Bonding, although decided in 1971, concerned a nonappearance of a defendant that had occurred in 1968. As both briefs here agree, the decision in that case takes no account of a…