A pair of checks from the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office to the Caddo Parish Criminal Court Fund and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office Friday, February 28, 2020, marked the end of a years-long battle over a criminal bond forfeited when a defendant repeatedly failed to show up for scheduled court cases.
The bond forfeiture was over a case against Angel Juan Olquin, one of four defendants charged in April 2013 with distribution of the Schedule II controlled dangerous substance methamphetamine. Olquin, 35, from Fort Worth, Texas, repreatedly failed to show up for court dates, beginning in December 2013, with the first bond forfeiture notice filed in Caddo District Court in early 2014, following a second no-show that February. The bond forfeited was set at just under $80,000 for two Schedule II counts, each with bond set at $40,000, and a Schedule I (marijuana) charge of $1,000, with associated court costs. The docket numbers in Caddo District Court are 314130 and 313514. With interest and court costs, the total rose to $102,000.
The contest over the money worked its way through the District Court and to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal, which finally ruled in favor of the Caddo District Court over the bonding insurer, International Fidelity.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeal, in a ruling filed in May 2019, noted that the insurer failed to timely file a brief, despite extensions, and dismissed the appeal. The dismissal was taken to the Louisiana Supreme Court, which on January 15, 2020, unanimously denied the writ application.
The money is divided among the Criminal Court Fund, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office, the Public Defender’s office, the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office and the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s office. Friday’s checks, presented by District Attorney James E. Stewart Sr., were to the Court Fund and the Sheriff in equal amounts, $25,615.82.