SANTA BARBARA – January 12
Bad news was delivered to American Surety Company—the bond company currently fronting $1million in bail on behalf of Randy and Evi Quaid—in Judge Frank Ochoa’s Santa Barbara Superior Court chambers this week. Ochoa, after hearing ASC’s plea for exoneration on those bonds despite the fact that neither of the Quaids has made any appearance in court for more than a year to date, denied their request, pointing to California State Code calling for the forfeiture of bail when a defendant fails to appear as scheduled in court and is physically able to do so.
Randy and Evi Quaid
In September of 2010, less than a year after a 2009 “no contest” plea to charges of defrauding an innkeeper, film star Randy Quaid and his wife Evi were arrested on charges of felony burglary, misdemeanor trespass, and resisting arrest following a long-standing dispute over title to a Montecito residence once owned by the couple. At the time, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Public Information Officer Drew Sugars, in responding to a Crime Voice contact, said “Mr. Quaid claimed legal possession of the house, but the current property owner provided plenty of documentation proving otherwise.” At the time of their arrest, “Mrs. Quaid physically resisted” responding deputies and was so charged by the District Attorney. Following the posting of $50,000 bond each, the couple was released.
That bail was subsequently forfeited when the Academy Award-nominated actor and his wife failed to appear as promised on those pending charges. According to their attorney Robert Sanger’s remarks to the press at that time, his clients had “a pending appearance in the Canadian courts which precluded their presence in Santa Barbara.” Their bail was then increased to $100,000.
Since that time, the Quaids have been in Vancouver, British Columbia seeking political asylum based upon their claim of persecution at the hands of “Hollywood star whackers” whom the Quaids allege are planning their assassination. Evi Quaid’s Canadian citizenship has shielded the couple from extradition proceedings sought by Santa Barbara authorities, and they have failed to make any of their promised appearances in Santa Barbara Superior Court. With that failure to appear, the court increased their bond amount to $500,000 each, also posted by American Surety.
Judge Frank Ochoa denied exoneration of bail to ASC
Quaid was widely quoted at his Canadian press conference wherein he claimed to have been persecuted by criminal elements within the international banking and criminal justice systems, pointing to “a monstrous ring of accountants, estate planners, and lawyers who are trying to kill my career and murder me.”
With American Surety’s appeal coming before Judge Ochoa last year, he deliberated and researched their standing for more than two months before handing down the ruling calling for the forfeiture of $1,000,000 for failure to deliver the defendants to court.
Read More:
Santa Barbara Independent: Quaids Bail Bond Company Out $1 Million
Los Angeles Times: Randy Quaid and wife no-shows again in Santa Barbara court
CalCoastNews: Quaid’s bail bond company out $1 Million
Photos: courtesy Santa Barbara County Jail Booking; Santa Barbara Superior Court.
