Commonwealth v. Gomez

While released on bail and during a jury trial, the defendant Yohan Gomez was arrested for an unrelated offense and detained in Commonwealth custody. He was unable to appear in the trial court as scheduled on the second day of trial because he was in police custody for the new offense and, thus, was defaulted at trial. The defendant appeals from a ruling by the trial judge forfeiting his bail for failure to appear. We conclude that the judge improperly ordered the forfeiture of bail under these circumstances and reverse.

1. Background. The defendant was indicted in December, 2007, in Superior…