Appellant Decision on Bail Bond Case

A bail bond case was recently decided by the Missouri Southern Court of Appeals. In Jim and Colleen Laas vs. John Wright, the court upheld the bondsman’s contract which stated that the premium was fully earned when the bond was executed. The bond was a $1,000,000 appeal bond for murder. Laas wrote the bond in May for $90,000 in premium, most of which was payable in monthly installments. The Missouri Attorney General moved that the defendant's bond should be revoked, saying that under Missouri law appeal cases for murder were not eligible for bond. In July, the court revoked the bond based on the attorney general’s motion. Following the trial, the court found in favor of Laas for the unpaid premium and ordered judgment against Wright for the full amount of premium. A lien was placed against Wrights’s property, and the judgment was satisfied when the property was sold. Wright appealed, claiming that the court improperly issued an appeal bond, and that he should be refunded the premium paid. The appellant court ruled that unlike the parallel cases presented, Laas was legally licensed, was liable for the bond for the time the defendant was released, and ruled that the premium was fully earned for the time that the defendant was on bond.