California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Accredited Sur. Cas. Co., 178 Cal.Rptr.3d 809, 230 Cal.App.4th 548 (Cal. App. 2014):
Ordinarily, appellate courts review an order denying a motion to vacate the forfeiture of a bail bond under an abuse of discretion standard. [Citation.] When the appellate court is deciding only legal issues, however, such as ... matters of statutory interpretation, the abuse of discretion standard does not apply. [Citation.] When the facts are undisputed and only legal issues are involved, appellate courts conduct an independent review. (People v. International Ins. Co. (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 588, 592 [138 Cal.Rptr.3d 883] .)
In contrast, when there are factual disputes, the trial court's findings of fact will be upheld under the abuse of discretion standard when those findings are supported by substantial evidence. (Haraguchi v. Superior Court (2008) 43 Cal.4th 706, 711 [76 Cal.Rptr.3d 250, 182 P.3d 579] [abuse of discretion standard applied to motion to recuse a prosecutor].)
II. Overview of Statutory Scheme
A. Bail Bonds
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