People v. Bankers Ins. Co.

I do not agree with my colleagues that the case before us may be meaningfully distinguished from County of Los Angeles v. Financial Casualty & Surety, Inc. (2016) 247 Cal.App.4th 875, 202 Cal.Rptr.3d 380 ( Financial Casualty ). In my view, Penal Code section 13051 required the superior court to send notice to the surety within 30 days after it declared a forfeiture in open court on July 19, 2016. Because it failed to do so, the court lacked jurisdiction to subsequently declare a forfeiture.

I. Facts

On June 3, 2016, criminal defendant Manuel Gheeraert was arraigned, the public defender was…