State v. Cobb, 254 N.C.App. 317, 803 S.E.2d 176 (Jul. 5, 2017)

Over a dissent, the court held that where a motion to set aside the forfeiture of an appearance bond did not contain the required documentation to support a ground in G.S. 15A-544.5, the trial court lacked statutory authority to set aside the forfeiture. When the defendant failed to appear on a $30,000 bond, the trial judge ordered that the bond be forfeited. A bail agent for the surety moved to set aside the forfeiture, asserting that the defendant had been surrendered. Specifically, the motion stated that the “defendant has been surrendered by a surety on the bail bond as provided by G.S. 15A-540, as evidenced by the attached ‘Surrender of Defendant By Surety’ (AOC-CR-214)” (ground (b)(3) under G.S. 15A-544.5). However, no AOC form was attached to the motion. Instead, an ACIS printout was attached. The printout pertained to a traffic offense but included no reference to the case in which the bond was forfeited; nor did the printout indicate that the defendant had been surrendered. The information in the ACIS printout does not meet the requirement of a sheriff’s receipt contemplated by the statute.