Facts: A criminal prosecution in which defendant William Kramer’s appearance bond was forfeited by default after he failed to appear for a pretrial hearing. Petitioner All City Bail Bonds, the surety that issued the bond, moved to vacate the default forfeiture and for exoneration of the bond because Kramer was apprehended seven days after his scheduled appearance date. The Superior Court for Lincoln County denied All City’s motion to vacate and denied exoneration of the bond, and All City appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the order denying the motion to vacate and remanded the case for further proceedings on the question of partial exoneration. The Supreme Court of Washington granted All City’s petition for review.
Question(s): Did the trial court abuse its discretion by refusing to vacate a default judgment of forfeiture against All City when Kramer had been returned to custody within the 60 days provided by RCW §10.19.105?
Conclusion: Justice Madsen’s opinion for the Court reversed the decision of the Court of Appeals and the trial court, holding that All City was entitled to vacation of the default forfeiture because Kramer was returned to custody well within the 60 days provided by RCW §10.19.105. Further, the trial court erred in analyzing RCW §10.19.140 and requiring All City to file a stay of the execution of the default judgment. Finally, All City was entitled to exoneration of the bond, minus costs incurred by law enforcement in transporting, locating, apprehending, or processing of Kramer’s return to the proper jurisdiction. The case was remanded for further proceedings, and the default judgment against All City was vacated.
Docket No. 81071-1 (from Court of Appeals Division III Case No. 25569-7)
Petitioner: All City Bail Bonds
(Counsel: James L. Studt)
Respondent: State of Washington
(Counsel: Ronald B. Shpherd and Melvin D. Hoit)
Other Parties: William Kramer
Briefs:
Argument: Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:00am
[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]
Audio: Washington Supreme Court
Decided: Thursday, November 19th, 2009
Prevailing Party: All City Bail Bonds (Petitioner)
Vote: 5-4
Opinion: 167 Wn.2d 548 (2009)
Court: Alexander4 Court (2008-2009)
Alexander
Johnson
Madsen
(Majority)
Sanders
Chambers
Owens
Fairhurst
(Dissent)
Johnson
Stephens
Note: We post only slip opinion(s) as published at the time of the decision. Please consult Washington Reports printed volumes for the opinion(s) in their final form. Each opinion should appear next to the Justice who authored it.