Appellant Court Rules Against Bonding Company

An appellant ruling regarding when a surety is released from a bond was handed down this week by the Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District. The case, State of Missouri v. Mark Anthony Wilson, L&C Investment Group d/b/a Bada Bing Bail Bonds, determined that a surety is not released from a bond when a stay of execution is granted. The defendant, Wilson, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and was sentenced to nine years in the MO Department of Corrections. As part of the plea agreement, Wilson was granted a one-month stay of execution on the sentence. L&C was not present at the plea hearing. Wilson failed to appear to begin serving his sentence. A bond forfeiture hearing was later held and the defendant was not produced. Five months after failing to submit to the sentencing order, the court ordered judgment against the bonding company. L&C appealed a $100,000 judgment in Buchanan County, citing that their obligation under the terms of the bond agreement ended when Wilson was present for sentencing on September 13, 2004, and that it had no further obligation to secure his appearance at the law enforcement center after execution of sentence was delayed. The appellant court ruled against the bonding company stating, “The terms of the original bond agreement required Wilson to ‘submit to any orders, judgments and sentence of this court or any court hearing this case.’ We find that L&C had a continuing obligation to keep track of the defendant and assure the defendant's appearance and compliance with court orders to appear to begin serving his sentence. Had L&C kept itself informed of Wilson's case, and did not want to be obligated for Wilson's release upon the stay of execution of his sentence, L&C could have surrendered Wilson to the custody of law enforcement.”

Douglas Cheatham of Blue Springs, MO is the president of L&C Investment Group, Inc.