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State v. Chatfield11/9/2001
On Appeal from District Court of Vermont, Unit No. 3, Essex Circuit September Term, 2001 M. Kathleen Manley, J.
Surety Marble Valley Bail Bond, Ltd. appeals from an order of the district court forfeiting bail following defendant's nonappearance for a jury draw. On appeal, surety argues that changes in the bail conditions and the addition of a new charge materially altered the risk surety assumed under the bail bond, without notice to surety, thus discharging surety's obligation. We affirm.
As there was no written decision in this case, the relevant facts, as can be gathered from the docketing statement, are as follows. In December 1998, defendant Jesse Chatfield was charged with grossly negligent operation of a vehicle, death resulting, in violation of 23 V.S.A. § 1091(b). In February 1999, surety posted $10,000 bail. Defendant's release was conditioned upon his reporting to the Vermont State Police barracks in St. Johnsbury, in person, every afternoon, and his not traveling outside of Essex, Caledonia, or Orleans counties without written permission of the court. In subsequent months, upon defendant's petition, the court modified the conditions of release to allow him to report to the State police by telephone and to travel to Washington County to work, to Chittenden County upon 24 hours notice to his attorney, and to Lamoille County for work. In May 1999, the State charged defendant with driving under the influence of drugs, death resulting, in violation of 23 V.S.A. § 1201(a)(3), as a result of the same incident giving rise to the first charge. After defendant did not appear for a jury draw in October 1999, the district court ordered the forfeiture of bail, and surety entered this appeal.
At issue in this case is the nature of bail bond agreement between surety, defendant and the court. A bail bond is a surety agreement governed by the same legal principles applicable to the construction and consequences of surety agreements in general. See generally In re Palmer, __ Vt. __, 769 A.2d 623 (2000). Here defendant and surety executed an appearance bond with the State in which defendant agreed to appear at all court proceedings for which he receives notice, and surety agreed to pay the State the amount of bail should defendant fail to appear. Particularly, surety agreed "to know when and where the defendant is to appear." The bond also makes clear that if surety "should ever become concerned about the above responsibilities, the defendant may be surrendered to the Court and bail returned according to Title 13 V.S.A. § 7526." Surety and defendant also executed a demand notice that secures surety's right to the bail amount in the event that it is forfeited to the court. In that notice, surety requires defendant to call surety once a week. These documents encompass the entirety of the agreement. Nowhere does the court accept any responsibility toward surety.
Surety's first argument on appeal is that the changes in defendant's conditions of release materially altered surety's risk without notice to surety. Surety relies on the principle that a material alteration to the original contract (the appearance bond) without notice to surety discharges the surety. Without addressing the validity of that assertion, however, we reject the premise of surety's argument because we find that the changes made to defendant's conditions were not material. Furthermore, even if the changes were substantial enough to alter surety's risk, we also hold that surety had notice of the changes because the changes were implemented at defendant's request.
The changes allowed defendant to travel more widely through the state and to report to the state police by telephone rather than in pe
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