People v. International Fidelity Insurance

In this bail bond forfeiture case, the International Fidelity Insurance Company (appellant) seeks relief from an order denying its motion to vacate the summary judgment entered against its bail bond. By its motion to vacate, appellant sought to have the trial court also vacate a prior order that declared a forfeiture of the bail bond, and that served as the basis for the summary judgment. Our review of the record shows there is no merit to appellant’s contention that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to declare the forfeiture and enter the judgment. Therefore, we will dismiss the appeal since, as discussed below, the summary judgment is a consent judgment and not generally subject to appeal unless entered in excess of the court’s jurisdiction.

BACKGROUND OF THE CASE

Alejandro Orosco Caraberos (defendant) was charged with two felony counts—lewd acts with a child by force or fear, and continuous sexual abuse of a child. Bail provided by appellant was. posted on July 22, 2003, in the amount of $200,000. The case was called for arraignment on January 23, 2004, defendant appeared and pled not guilty to both charges. A pretrial conference and jury trial were set for…