State v. Johnson

Citations

• 69 Wash. 612
• 126 P. 56
• 1912 Wash. LEXIS 964

Syllabus

<p>Bail—Forfeiture—Vacation of Judgment—Discretion. Rem. & Bal. Code, § 2233, providing that, if, upon a stay of execution against sureties on a bail bond, the person bailed shall be produced in court before expiration of the stay, the court may vacate the judgment against the bail on such terms as may be just and equitable, imposes a judicial discretion on the trial court, and not one that can be exercised arbitrarily.</p> <p>Same—Abuse op Discretion—Good Faith op Bail. Under Rem. & Bal. Code, § 2233, providing that the court may vacate a judgment on a bail bond, if the person bailed is produced in court before the expiration of a stay of execution, it is an abuse of discretion to refuse to vacate the judgment, where, on a charge of grand larceny, there had been several adjournments of the trial of accused, who was advised by her attorney that the state was indifferent about prosecuting, that she might leave the city, and that he would notify her if the case was set for trial; and it appeared that she had no notice of the trial, and none could be given her, that her bail acted in good faith and spent considerable money in attempting to locate her without success; and after judgment forfeiting the bail bond, accused, upon learning of the same, returned and surrendered herself to the court before expiration of 'the stay.</p> <p>Same — Judgment on Bail Bond — Entry — Date — Stay. The clerk’s journal entry of a judgment forfeiting a bail bond, is not the judgment governing the sixty-day stay of execution thereon within which the accused could be produced, where it was informal and did not specify the amount, being in effect an order of default, and was so construed by the prosecuting attorney, who six weeks later entered a formal judgment for the amount of the bond; as the latter would, in any event, have the effect of vacating the earlier one and estop the state from denying that it was the judgment for all purposes.</p>