People v. The North River Ins. Co.

Filed 11/24/25 (opinion on remand from Supreme Court) CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

THE PEOPLE, B322752

Plaintiff and Respondent, Santa Clara County Super. Ct. No. F1765160 v.

THE NORTH RIVER INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant and Appellant;

BAD BOYS BAIL BONDS,

Real Party in Interest and Appellant.

APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Santa Clara County, My-Le Jacqueline Duong, Judge. Reversed and remanded. Jefferson T. Stamp for Defendant and Appellant. James R. Williams and Tony Lopresti, County Counsel, Kavita Narayan, Chief Assistant County Counsel, Christopher A. Capozzi, Sterling S. Larnerd, and Hannah M. Godbey, Deputy County Counsel, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ____________________

When a defendant on bail inexcusably fails to return to court as ordered, the trial court must declare the bail bond is forfeited. The bail bond company has 180 days from the forfeiture notice to produce the defendant or to demonstrate why the court should set aside the forfeiture. This interval is called the appearance period. For good cause, the court can extend the appearance period for another 180 days. The bail company may file a motion to vacate the forfeiture within the appearance period, and the court may hear the motion within 30 days of the expiration of the appearance period. For good cause, the court may extend the 30-day period. (People v. The North River Insurance Company (2025) 18 Cal.5th 1, 8–9 (North River).) The Supreme Court remanded the case to us. We adopt Justice Kruger’s concurring analysis. (North River, supra, 18 Cal.5th at pp. 23–32.) This analysis is not binding authority, because the majority of the high court did not speak to the issue she addressed. This analysis is, however, persuasive. It is highly persuasive. We remand the case to the trial court for the decisionmaking this analysis requires. All citations are to the Penal Code. The prosecution filed a complaint alleging Geovanni Quijadas Silva committed a crime. North River posted a $100,000 bond for Silva’s release, but Silva skipped a required hearing on February 22, 2018. The trial court forfeited his bond and mailed notice of the forfeiture on February 26, 2018. The forfeiture would become final in 180 days (plus five days for mailing), on August 30, 2018, unless the bail company could get Silva to court by then. North River began looking for the fugitive. The court granted North River’s two requests for extensions. March 20,