# FIL ED

Jul y 5, 1996 Cecil W. Crow son A pp ellat e C ou rtC lerk IN THE CO UR T OF CR IM IN AL AP PEALS OF TENN ESSEE

AT NA SH VILLE DE CE MB ER1995 SESSI ON

) No. 01- C- 01- 9505- CR -0 0135 ) IN R E: P ETITION OF D AN NY ) Sumner C ounty BLA NKENSHIP BO NDING COMPANY ) ) Ja n e W . W h e a tc ra f t, Ju d ge ) ) (Applicat ion to W rite Bail Bon ds)

FO R THE A PPELLA NT: FO R THE A PPELLE E: Ma tt Q. Bast ian Cha rl es W . Bu rs on Atto rn ey at Law Atto rn ey Gene ra l & R epor

ter 505 M ain Street, East 450 J ames R ober tso n Par kw ay Hen dersonv il le, TN 37075 Nas hv il le, TN 37243- 0493 Dar ian B. Tay lor Ass is tant Atto rn ey

Gene ra l 450 J ames R ober

tso n Par kw ay Nas hv il le, TN 37243- 0493 Law re nce Ray

W hit ley Di str ic t Attor ney

Gene ra l 113 Main Street , East Gal lat in, TN 37066

OPIN ION F ILED :______

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__ AFF IR ME D
Jo e B. Jo n e s, Pre sid in g Ju d ge1 O P I N I O N

T he a ppe llan t , D a n ny A. Blan kensh ip, do ing business as Dan ny Blan kensh ip Bondi ng C ompany , s oug h t p e rmiss ion from t he tr ial co urt t o w ri te ba il bonds i n Sumner Cou nty

. The propose d resi dent rep re sent ati v e of the company i n Sumner

C ounty w as the appel la n t, Gl en M . D av is

. In t he ev ent D av is w as not a v ail abl e to w ri te a bond, the propose d s ubst it ute w as Ri chard L. Greg or y , an employ ee of

t h e bondi ng co mpany

and also an app ellantin this case. T he trial court denied the ap plication beca use Bla nken ship did not poss ess suffici ent personal ass ets to suppo rt his company ’s w ri ti ng of bai l bonds in the g eneral ses si ons and c ri minal co urts of Sumner Cou nty

. The appel lan ts appeal as of ri g ht fro m thi s j udg ment. Si nce the e v ide nce supp o rt s the findi ng s made by the tr ial
cour t, the j udg ment i s a ff ir med. T he sta nda rd of rev iew in the se cases is de n ovo. Ten n. Cod e Ann . § 40-1 1-12 5(d). Us ual ly , t he findi ng s o f factmade by the tr ial courtare pres umed to be c or re ct unl ess the
ev ide nce cont ain ed i n the re cord preponderates ag ain st thes e findi ng s. W hen, as here, the fin din g s of fact made by the tr ial cour t are based ex cl usi v ely

upon w ri tten re cords, the pr esumpt ion of cor re ctn ess does not appl y . This Cou rt , li ke the tr ial cour t, can anal yz e the
re c o rd s a n d re a c h i t s o w n c o n c l u s i o n s s i n c e t h e t r i a l c o u rt w a s n o t r e q u i r e d to v iew the
m a n n e r a n d d e m e a n o r o f t h e wit n e s s e s a n d a s s e s s e a c h wit n e s s ’s cr e d ib il it y. The tr ial co urt c onduc ted a n ev ide nti ar y hear ing

. W hen the hear ing w as conc lud ed, the t ri al cour

t found t hat t he ev ide nce w as "adeq uate to all ow the peti ti on to be g ra nted. " Ho we ve r, t h e co u rtwa n t e d a d d it io n a l i n fo rm a t io n co n c e rn in g B la n k e n s h ip a n d G re go ry. He re q uired th at t hey

furni sh a c erti ficat e from t he St ate o f Tennessee th at t he s urety
com pan y

had com plied w ith the law s of T enn essee and w as aut horized to do busine ss in Tenness ee. Blankens hip and Greg or y w ere req uired to obta in cer ti ficat es from the tr ial
cour t and the cl er k in the re spec ti v e jud ic ial dis tr ic ts w here they li v ed a n d w ro te bonds sta ti ng that theydid not hav e cri minal records, there w ere no outs tandi ng ci v il j udg ments against th em , and a r e c o m me nda tion a s to the ir respe ctiv e cha racters. T he jud ge also
re q uired Bl anken shi p to prov ide a fina nci al sta tement a n d a li st of all outs tandi ng bonds t h a twe re wri t t e n b y t h e co m p a n y.2 Bl anke n s h i p a n d G r e g o r y c o mp l i e d w i t h t h e re q u i r e me n t s m a n d a t e d b y t h e t r ial court. The record ref lects tha t the surety com pan y w as au th o ri zed to do bu siness in T e nness ee. The surety co mpany

furni shed each person, Bl anken shi p, G re g or y , and Dav is , w it h a b ond pow er of $100,00 0 for the w ri ti ng of ba il bonds in Sumner Cou nty

. Both Bl an k en s hi p an d Greg or y fur ni s he d th e r eq ui s i te c er ti fi c a t e s , w h i c h w ere fav orab l e to t he m. Blan kensh ip f urnishe d a f inan cial state me nt do cum ent ing a m ode st netw orth. He also f urnishe d tw o lists, one f rom each ju dicial district where his bon ding comp any did busine ss, show ing outs tandi ng bai l bonds tot all ing $278, 800. The re cord does not e sta bli sh the b ond powers issued by the surety i n the se tw o judicial districts. This C our

t ag re es that Bl anken shi p’s net w orth is ins uff ic ien t to s uppor t t he w ri ti ng of bail bonds in another jud ic ial dis tr ic t. Ass uming arg uendo t hat t he bond pow er i ss ued by the surety

i s $ 100,000 in the judic ial di str ic t w here approx imat ely $226, 500 i n bai l bonds
w er e out sta ndi ng , Bl anken shi p's potenti al personal liab il ity f ar ex ceede d his net w orth. If per mitt ed to w ri te ba il bonds ov er a pe ri od of ti me i n Sumner C ounty , t he ag g re g ate
am oun t of

the ba il bond s m a y e xc e e d t h e limit of $10 0,0 00. As a result, Blanke nship
w oul d notbe a ble to sat is fy the o bli g ati ons g iv en hi s n et w orth.

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____ JO E B. JO NE S, P RE SID IN G J UD GE

CONCUR:

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____ PAU L G. SU MM ER S, J UD GE

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____ JO SEPH M . TIPTON , J UD GE