Smith's Criminal Case Compendium
Table of Contents
State v. Maye, COA24-77, ___ N.C. App. ___ (Aug. 6, 2024)
In this Lenoir County case, defendant’s bond surety appealed the trial court’s order denying its motion to set aside bond forfeiture. The Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s order and remanded.
In January of 2023, defendant did not appear for court, leading to the bond forfeiture notice. The surety filed a motion to set aside the forfeiture, including copies of orders for defendant’s arrest. The school board objected and sent a notice of hearing with an erroneous hearing date of August 2, 2023, when the hearing was actually August 30, 2023. The school board argued that it subsequently sent a corrected notice. Regardless, on the hearing date the bond surety did not appear, and the trial court denied the motion.
Taking up the appeal, the Court of Appeals first established jurisdiction after the parties raised issues concerning service of the proposed record and the record’s necessary materials. Having established jurisdiction, the court noted that “[w]hen the bondsman files a motion to set aside, the ‘forfeiture shall be set aside for any’ of the reasons enumerated in [G.S.] 15A-544.5(b).” Slip Op. at 7. Here, even though the bond surety did not appear at the hearing on the motion, the motion contained a valid statutory reason to set aside the forfeiture. The court noted that failure to appear did not grant the trial court “absolute discretion to deny the absent party’s motion,” and concluded that the trial court erred. Id. at 8.