In re: Paul's Bonding Co.

Decision Date16 February 2001
Docket Number99-02528
Citation62 S.W.3d 187
PartiesIn Re: Paul's Bonding Company, Inc.IN THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEALS OF TENNESSEE AT NASHVILLE
CourtTennessee Court of Criminal Appeals

Appeal from the Criminal Court for Davidson County: Nos. 97-D-2152, 97-D-2354, 98-B-1151

J. Randall Wyatt Jr., Judge

The appellant, Paul's Bonding Company, Inc., appeals the judgments of the Davidson County Criminal Court ordering complete forfeiture of bail bonds in the cases of criminal defendants Carlos Ramon Ruiz and Castulo Morales Vasquez and partial forfeiture of the bail bond in the case of criminal defendant Reyes Castro. Following a review of the record and the parties' briefs, we affirm the judgments of the trial court.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 16-5-108(a)(2) (1997)1; Judgments of the Criminal Court are Affirmed.

Norma McGee Ogle, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which David H. Welles and Joe G. Riley, JJ., joined.

Joel H. Moseley, Nashville, Tennessee, for the appellant, Paul's Bonding Company, Inc.

Paul G. Summers, Attorney General and Reporter, Marvin Clements, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Victor S. Johnson, III, District Attorney General, and John C. Zimmerman, Assistant District Attorney General, for the appellee, State of Tennessee.

OPINION
I. Factual Background

The instant case arose in 1998 from three separate criminal cases in which the State charged Reyes Castro with one count of possession of a Schedule II controlled substance with intent to deliver; Carlos Ramon Ruiz with one count of possession of more than one-half gram of a Schedule II controlled substance;2 and Castulo Morales Vasquez with one count of criminal attempt to commit extortion. The trial court set the following bail amounts in each case: fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in the case of Reyes Castro; ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the case of Carlos Ramon Ruiz; and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) in the case of Castulo Morales Vasquez. The appellant, Paul's Bonding Company, Inc., agreed to secure the appearance of each defendant. Subsequently, however, the defendants failed to appear at scheduled court hearings, and the trial court entered conditional judgments of forfeiture against the appellant, also issuing capiases for the defendants and writs of scire facias. Upon service of the writs of scire facias and in response thereto, the appellant petitioned the court for relief from the conditional judgments of forfeiture pursuant to Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-11-204 (1997), asserting in the petitions that the defendants had fled to Mexico. The trial court conducted a hearing on the appellant's petitions on September 8, 1999.

At the hearing, the appellant's attorney, Joel H. Moseley, initially noted that a former bail bond agent and employee of the appellant named James E. Ferrell had processed the Castro and Ruiz bail bonds. The appellant and the State agreed that both Ferrell and another bail bond agent, Peggy Coleman, were arrested on December 11, 1998, by the "Metropolitan Vice Squad" and charged with money laundering and submitting false death certificates to the court during the course of their employment by the appellant. Moseley asserted that he had subpoenaed Ferrell as a witness, but Ferrell intended to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination. The trial court nevertheless required Ferrell to take the witness stand and answer any questions that would not implicate his privilege. Acting upon advice from his attorney, Ferrell only answered purely preliminary questions concerning his identity and former occupation.

Notwithstanding Ferrell's refusal to testify, the appellant introduced into evidence copies of the bail bond applications and agreements executed by the three defendants at issue. With respect to the Castro and Vasquez bail bonds, the appellant presented the testimony of Mark Nelson, the appellant's supervising bail bond agent. Nelson confirmed that Ferrell had processed the Castro bail bond and further noted that the paperwork in the Castro case appeared to have been completed in accordance with the appellant's policies. Nelson also testified that he had himself processed the Vasquez bail bond in accordance with those policies. He recalled that Vasquez was referred to him by Carlos Rodriguez, a friend of Vasquez, and Tina Fitzpatrick, the mother of Vasquez's child and a co-principal. He asserted that Rodriguez and Fitzpatrick had previously referred defendants to him, and, indeed, he had processed bail bonds for Rodriguez and Fitzpatrick themselves. According to Nelson, they had always been reliable. Nelson conceded, however, that Fitzpatrick and another co-principal, Alberto Vasquez,3 possessed few financial resources.

With respect to the Ruiz bail bond, the appellant presented the testimony of Jason K. Doolittle, a former bail bond agent and employee of the appellant. Doolittle confirmed that Ferrell

had also processed the Ruiz bail bond, although Doolittle had provided some minimal assistance to Ferrell. Doolittle noted that Ruiz was referred to Ferrell by Joey Herrera, a bail bond agent in Houston, Texas, with whom Doolittle had previously conducted business.

In addition to Doolittle's testimony, Moseley asserted to the court that he had deposed Anna Louise Gomez, a co-principal in the Ruiz case. Moseley did not attempt to introduce into evidence this deposition or otherwise present Gomez's testimony. Nevertheless, Moseley remarked to the court that both Gomez and her husband, who was also a co-principal in the Ruiz case, were United States citizens and, at the time of the execution of the Ruiz bail bond, had owned a "brick laying business." According to Moseley, this business had since failed, and Gomez's husband was currently residing in Mexico and working as a "day laborer." Gomez herself was insolvent.

The appellant adduced no evidence at the September 8, 1999 hearing concerning the defendants' nationality, although it was essentially undisputed that the defendants were Mexican citizens and that the appellant was aware of the defendants' nationality at the time of the execution of the bail bonds. In any event, the bail bond application in the Castro case indicated Castro's employment by Davidson Construction Company in Alexandria, Virginia. The appellant also introduced into evidence a June 1, 1998 letter from Manganero Corporation in Beltsville, Maryland to Joey Herrera in Houston, Texas, confirming Castro's employment by that corporation. The Vasquez bail bond application reflected Vasquez's employment by a local Red Lobster Restaurant. The Ruiz bail bond application reflected no current employment.

As to the location of the defendants at the time of the September 8, 1999 hearing, the appellant also failed to adduce evidence in support of its contention that both Castro and Ruiz had absconded to Mexico. Moseley noted that Gomez had stated in her deposition that Ruiz was residing in Mexico. The State, however, refused to stipulate Ruiz's location. The appellant did elicit testimony from Nelson concerning Vasquez's location. Specifically, Nelson testified that, due to his efforts to locate and apprehend Vasquez, he learned that the defendant had fled to Mexico. According to Nelson, he obtained Vasquez's address and telephone number in Mexico from Vasquez's co-principals. He then called Mexico and confirmed Vasquez's location in that country.

As to the appellant's attempts to retrieve the three defendants from Mexico, Moseley noted to the trial court that his client had entered into bail bond agreements with the defendants in reliance upon an existent extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico. Indeed, following the defendants' flight, the appellant contacted the Office of the District Attorney General concerning the possibility of initiating extradition proceedings against the defendants. However, the appellant learned that, as a practical matter, the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico is unenforceable. In this regard, the appellant introduced into evidence a July 1, 1999 letter from Assistant District Attorney General John C. Zimmerman to Moseley confirming the futility of seeking the extradition of fugitives from Mexico. Zimmerman also conceded at the hearing that, "if you go across the border and stay in Mexico, you're not going to be extradited, period. They're not going to send you across the border." Moreover, the appellant introduced into evidence an August 8, 1999 newspaper article excerpted from The San Diego Union-Tribune noting the reluctance of Mexican authorities to extradite Mexican citizens to the United States and further noting the 1993 revision of the extradition treaty between the United States and Mexico outlawing "cross-border abductions" of criminal suspects by bounty hunters or bail bond agents.

Finally, Moseley noted that his client's efforts to recapture the defendant Castro had been hampered by an on-going criminal investigation conducted by the State. Specifically, Moseley introduced into evidence correspondence between himself and Zimmerman in which Moseley recalled the State's request that the appellant withhold any attempts to apprehend Castro for the duration of a "vice-squad operation." It is unclear from the record before this court whether this "vice-squad operation" was part of the State's investigation of the appellant's bail bond agents or constituted a separate investigation. In any event, Moseley asserted at the hearing that Castro was able to abscond to Mexico due to the appellant's cooperation with the State.

The State declined to introduce evidence at the hearing but, without objection by the appellant, asked the trial court to take judicial notice of prior proceedings before the trial court in the Castro case. Specifically, the prosecutor made the following remarks:

[T]he Court will note from this file that . . . this bond's history here has a history before Your Honor.

Mr. Castro's bond first came into this court...

To continue reading

Request your trial
30 cases
  • Boyd v. Comdata Network, Inc.
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Appeals
    • 30 Aprile 2002
    ... ... Clinard v. Blackwood, 46 S.W.3d 177, 182 (Tenn.2001); Buckner v. Hassell 44 S.W.3d 78, 83 (Tenn.Ct.App.2000); In re Paul's Bonding Co., 62 S.W.3d 187, 194 (Tenn.Crim.App.2001); Overstreet v. Shoney's, Inc., 4 S.W.3d 694, 709 (Tenn.Ct. App.1999) ...         When ... ...
  • Roberts v. Sanders
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Appeals
    • 22 Febbraio 2002
    ... ... Clinard v. Blackwood, 46 S.W.3d 177, 182 (Tenn. 2001); Buckner v. Hassell, 44 S.W.3d 78, 83 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000); In re Paul's Bonding Co., 62 S.W.3d 187, 194 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001); Overstreet v. Shoney's, Inc., 4 S.W.3d 694, 709 (Tenn. Ct. App. 1999) ... Contrary to Access ... ...
  • In re Rader Bonding Co.
    • United States
    • Tennessee Supreme Court
    • 23 Dicembre 2019
  • West v. Schofield
    • United States
    • Tennessee Court of Appeals
    • 29 Settembre 2014
    ... ... Id ... at 212 (citing Clinard v. Blackwood , 46 S.W.3d 177, 182 (Tenn. 2001); In re Paul's Bonding Co ., 62 S.W.3d 187, 194 (Tenn. Crim. App. 2001); Buckner v. Hassell , 44 S.W.3d 78, 83 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2000); Overstreet v. Shoney's, Inc ., 4 ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT