Com. v. Brown, G. Appeal of: ACE Bail Bonds, LLC, Com. v. Brown, G. Appeal of: ACE Bail Bonds, LLC No. 1074 MDA 2016

Guilford Brown was arrested and had bail set at $25,000 secured; ACE Bail Bonds, LLC posted the bond.
Brown failed to appear on February 3, 2015; court issued bench warrant and forfeited the bail; ACE obtained a bail piece and later requested extension to apprehend Brown.
ACE apprehended Brown within a court-granted 90-day extension; Brown was committed March 12, 2016, pled guilty March 21, 2016, and was sentenced the same day.
At a forfeiture hearing the court remitted half of the $25,000 bond ($12,500) to ACE and forfeited the remaining half; ACE appealed.
ACE argued (1) the court abused its discretion by not remitting the bond in full because the Commonwealth incurred minimal costs, and (2) the court erred by conducting the forfeiture hearing without Brown present.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (ACE)	Defendant's Argument (Commonwealth / Court)	Held
Whether full remittance of forfeited bail was required	Berks County incurred little expense or effort locating Brown, so justice requires full remittance	Forfeiture discretion requires weighing Hann factors and totality of circumstances; nominal costs do not control outcome	Court affirmed partial remittance (half)
Whether Brown’s presence was required at forfeiture hearing	Brown should have been present to offer mitigating explanation	Parties and court agreed presence unnecessary; ACE’s counsel stipulated Brown’s nonappearance was willful	Court held no error in proceeding without Brown

Commonwealth v. Culver, 46 A.3d 786 (Pa. Super. 2012) (standard of review for remittance of bail forfeiture decisions)
Commonwealth v. Gaines, 74 A.3d 1047 (Pa. Super. 2013) (equitable principles govern bail remittance and courts may exonerate or remit forfeited bail)
Commonwealth v. Hann, 81 A.3d 57 (Pa. 2013) (lists non-exhaustive factors for forfeiture/remission determinations)