People v. Accredited Sur. & Cas. Co.

79 Cal.App.5th 656

295 Cal.Rptr.3d 71

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.ACCREDITED SURETY AND CASUALTY COMPANY, INC., Defendant and Appellant.

F082677

Court of Appeal, Fifth District, California.

Filed June 7, 2022

Law Office of John Rorabaugh and John Mark Rorabaugh, Fresno, for Defendant and Appellant.

Thomas E. Boze, County Counsel, and Robert J. Taro, Assistant County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

DETJEN, Acting P. J.

A surety on a $50,000 bail bond appeals from an order denying its motion to set aside a summary judgment entered on the bond. Surety contends the September 3, 2020 summary judgment entered on the bail bond is voidable and must be vacated because it was not filed within 90 days after the appearance period expired as required by Penal Code section 1306, subdivision (c).¹ Surety contends the appearance period expired on October 21, 2019, and the trial court's subsequent order reinstating the bail bond was void for lack of jurisdiction. Surety also argues its consent to the reinstatement did not revive or confer the necessary jurisdiction.

The trial court concluded the surety was estopped from arguing the reinstatement order was void because the surety (1) had prior notice that a reinstatement order would be entered, (2) gave its written consent to the reinstatement, (3) paid a $50 reinstatement fee a few days after the reinstatement order, and (4) benefited when the bail bond was reinstated, which relieved the surety of a $50,000 forfeiture. As the surety's challenge to the summary judgment was based on the invalidity of the reinstatement order, the court concluded that challenge must fail.

We agree with the surety's contention that the trial court lacked the authority to reinstate the bond after the appearance period expired. We conclude, however, that the trial court correctly decided the surety's conduct estopped it from raising the invalidity of the reinstatement order as a basis for vacating the summary judgment.

We therefore affirm the summary judgment.

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On August 23, 2018, Mark Garcia Bail Bonds, acting as the agent for Accredited Surety and Casualty Company, Inc., a Florida corporation (collectively, Surety), posted a $50,000 bail bond for the release of Miguel Angel Corrales from custody. Corrales had been charged with felony corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant in violation of section 273.5, subdivision (a).

First Forfeiture

Corrales made his initial court appearance, but failed to appear in court on September 24, 2018. In accordance with section 1305, which governs the forfeiture of bail, the court declared the bond forfeited in open court. ( § 1305, subd. (a)(1).) Later that day, the clerk of the superior court completed the next step of section 1305's forfeiture procedure by mailing notice of the forfeiture to Surety. ( § 1305, subd. (b)(1).) Thereafter, Surety had 185 days (180 days plus five days for service by mail) to produce the defendant in court and have the forfeiture set aside. ( § 1305, subds. (b)(1), (c)(1).) The 185-day period and any extensions is known as the appearance period or the exoneration period.

In March 2019, before the appearance period expired, Surety filed a motion for an extension pursuant to section 1305.4, along with a supporting declaration and memorandum of points and authorities. Respondent filed a notice of non-opposition. On April 23, 2019, the trial court signed and filed an order granting the motion and extending the appearance period through Monday, October 21, 2019.

Reinstatement of Bail Bond

On October 28, 2019, seven days after the appearance period expired, Corrales appeared in court with defense counsel. The minute order from that hearing stated the bench warrant was recalled, a $50 administrative fee was imposed, bail was reinstated, and Corrales was released on bail.

Also on October 28, 2019, the court filed a one-page "CONSENT TO REINSTATE BAIL BOND AND ORDER" in which Surety stated that it "hereby notifies the court that it does not object to the reinstatement of bail on the above entitled bail bond for the period of 10 days from the date of this notice. Penal Code § 1305(c)(4) ; County of Stanislaus v. Ranger Insurance Company (1991) 230 Cal.App.3d 271, 281 Cal.Rptr. 230." The date given in the signature block was October 21, 2019—the final day of the extended appearance period—and it was signed by an "Attorney in Fact." Below that signature was an order signed by the court and dated October 28, 2019. The order stated: "Bail forfeiture is vacated and bail is reinstated." This is the reinstatement order that Surety contends is void.

On October 30, 2019, the clerk of the superior court mailed a letter to Surety stating: "On 09/24/2018 bond was forfeited in the above-entitled case and a forfeiture letter was sent to you. Upon order of the court on 10/28/2019, the forfeiture was set aside and bail was reinstated. A $50.00 assessment fee is due. If you have any questions, please call ...." The bail agent paid the $50 fee on November 1, 2019.

Second Forfeiture

On December 10, 2019, Corrales was not present in court when a pretrial hearing was called. His defense attorney represented to the court that Corrales had been there but left for work. The court declared the bond forfeited in open court. Later that day, the clerk of the superior court mailed notice of the forfeiture to Surety.

On June 16, 2020 (189 days after the forfeiture notice was mailed), Surety filed a motion to extend the appearance period pursuant to section 1305.4, along with a declaration of the bail agent and a memorandum of points and authorities. Respondent opposed the motion to extend the appearance period on the ground it was untimely because it was not filed within the 185-day appearance period specified in section 1305, subdivision (b)(1). After a hearing, the trial court entered a minute order stating the motion "is denied—not filed timely."

On September 3, 2020, the trial court filed a "SUMMARY JUDGMENT & NOTICE OF ENTRY OF JUDGMENT" against Surety in the sum of $50,000 plus administrative costs and interest. The next day, the clerk of the superior court served the judgment on Surety by mail.

On October 7, 2020, Surety filed a motion to set aside summary judgment and toll time on bail pursuant to Emergency rule 9 of the California Rules of Court, Appendix I (Emergency Rule 9 ).² Surety argued the September 2020 summary judgment was premature and voidable because the running of the appearance period was tolled from April 6, 2020, through October 1, 2020, by Emergency Rule 9. Surety subsequently abandoned its legal argument that Emergency Rule 9's tolling provision resulted in the September 2020 summary judgment being entered too soon.³

After the hearing on the motion to set aside summary judgment was continued, Surety filed a supplemental memorandum of points and authorities raising a new argument. Surety asserted the trial court failed to provide Surety with prior notice of the reinstatement as required by section 1305, subdivision (c)(4) and this failure caused the court to lose jurisdiction. Based on this lack of jurisdiction, Surety argued (1) the bail bond was improperly reinstated on October 28, 2019, and that reinstatement order had no effect, (2) the appearance period expired on October 21, 2019, and (3) the 90-day period for entering summary judgment started running on October 22, 2019, and expired on Monday, January 20, 2020, well before the September 2020 summary judgment was entered. As a result, Surety concluded the right to enter a summary judgment on the bail bond "expire[d] and the bond is exonerated" pursuant to section 1306, subdivision (c).⁴ In sum, Surety's new argument asserted the summary judgment was entered too late instead of too early.

In February 2021, respondent filed an opposition to Surety's supplemental points and authorities. Addressing the new argument, respondent contended Surety was estopped from challenging the reinstatement order because Surety had been notified of the reinstatement, gave its written consent, and subsequently paid an administrative fee after the reinstatement order was signed and filed. Respondent argued Surety had benefited from the reinstatement because the initial forfeiture of bail was set aside.

In March 2021, Surety filed a reply arguing that its consent to reinstatement could not revive the trial court's jurisdiction. Surety quoted our decision in People v. Accredited Surety & Casualty Co., Inc. (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 1490, 138 Cal.Rptr.3d 370 ( Accredited ’12 ) for the principle that "[o]nce the exoneration period expired, the trial court lost jurisdiction to grant relief from the forfeiture." ( Id. at p. 1503, 138 Cal.Rptr.3d 370.)

At the April 8, 2021 hearing on Surety's motion to set aside the summary judgment, the parties submitted on their briefs. The trial court then described part of the case's procedural history, stating: "The court on October 28th, 2019, ordered that ... the reassumption of the bailbond be entered. Although the 180 day time period had expired, the bond company—the agent of the bond company, Garcia Bail Bonds, then agreed to reinstate the bail and in fact paid the reinstatement fee of $50 on November 1st, 2019. And obviously the bond company paid $50 to avoid a $50,000 loss, which was the bailbond amount. And I feel based on that[,] it [was e]stopped from raising the issue that the court should not have reinstated—resumed the bailbond." Relying on this rationale and its determination that the emergency orders did not affect the time for bringing a motion to extend the appearance period, the court denied Surety's motion to set aside the summary judgment. Counsel for Surety then stated that he wanted "to make clear for the record the court is ruling that [it] had jurisdiction to reinstate the bond after the [appearance] period had expired because of the consent of the surety despite the jurisdictional nature." The court responded: "Yes."

Surety timely...