California v. Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc.

A surety posted a $50,000 bail bond for a misdemeanor defendant. Throughout the case, defendant’s attorney appeared on his behalf. The trial court granted defendant probation, continued several probation violation hearings, and eventually ordered defendant to personally appear. When defendant failed to appear, the court ordered the bond forfeited. On appeal, the surety argued that Penal Code section 977 did not allow attorneys to appear on behalf of misdemeanor defendants at probation violation hearings; therefore, the surety contends that the trial court should have declared a forfeiture at an earlier point in time. The Court of Appeal disagreed, finding that under section 977, an attorney may appear on behalf of a misdemeanor defendant at a probation violation hearing. View "California v. Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc." on Justia Law