Absent Without Excuse PDF Print E-mail
In People v. Ranger Insurance Co., 2007 WL 2164928 (Cal.App. July 30, 2007) the
defendant failed to appear on July 13, 2004, and the bond was forfeited. The surety
moved to set the forfeiture aside because the defendant failed to appear on May 17 and
July 12, 2004, and the court did not declare forfeitures on either date. The Court of
Appeal agreed that if the defendant failed to appear without an excuse on a prior occasion
there was no jurisdiction to declare the forfeiture on July 13, and the forfeiture would be
set aside.
The State argued that the defendant was present on May 17. The clerk’s minutes were
ambiguous, but an affidavit from the district attorney stated that her practice if a
defendant did not appear was to note certain things in the case file, and the absence of
such notes indicated to her the defendant was present. The Court held that evidence
formed a reasonable basis for the trial court to conclude that the defendant was present on
May 17.
On July 12, however, she unquestionably did not appear, and no facts were offered to
suggest that there may have been an excuse. The trial court stated that she was often late
on prior occasions and continued the case for one day. The Court of Appeal held as a
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matter of law that a record of lateness or excused absences cannot form the basis for a
continuance. There was no rational basis for a finding that there may have been an
excuse for the defendant’s failure to appear on July 12, and the trial court abused its
discretion in not granting the surety’s motion to set aside the forfeiture. The Court
vacated the forfeiture and directed that the bond be exonerated.