P. v. Ranger Ins. Co.
Filed 6/19/06 P. v. Ranger Ins. Co. CA4/3
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION THREE
| THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. RANGER INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant and Appellant. | G035859 (Super. Ct. No. 04WF2989) O P I N I O N |
Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Thomas Goethals, Judge. Affirmed.
Nunez & Bernstein, and E. Alan Nunez, for Defendant and Appellant.
Benjamin P. de Mayo, County Counsel, and Leon J. Page, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Ranger Insurance Company (Ranger) challenges the trial court's refusal to extend the time to set aside a bail forfeiture. Finding no abuse of discretion in the court's decision, we affirm the judgment.
* * *
Cochise Lee was charged with burglary, forgery, counterfeiting and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $50,000, and Ranger issued a bond in that amount to secure Lee's release from custody. However, Lee failed to appear at his arraignment, so the court forfeited the bond and issued a bench warrant. Notice of the forfeiture was mailed to Ranger on October 29, 2004. Ranger then had 180 days -- until May 2, 2005 -- to return Lee to custody and seek to have the forfeiture exonerated. (See Pen. Code, § 1305, subds. (b)-(e).)[1]
On April 14, 2005, Ranger moved to extend the 180-day period pursuant to section 1305.4. In support of the motion, Ranger included a declaration from Robert Ramos which states that before Ranger assigned him the case in January, it obtained Lee's booking photo and contacted Lee's probation officer. Ramos also listed his own efforts to find Lee, which included trying to reach the bond indemnitor, calling Lee's attorney, running computer checks and talking to the manager of an apartment complex where Lee once lived. According to Ramos, these efforts all proved fruitless.
His declaration also states that on April 12, 2005, fellow investigator Arturo Rico spoke with Lee's aunt Wanda Hibbler, and that following their conversation, Rico told Ramos he was â€
