Court Opinion

ID: 9605285
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:33:11.082884+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:27.100807
License: Public Domain

BIRD, C. J.,
Concurring —  I agree that the trial court’s statement of reasons for denying petitioner’s motion for bail pending appeal was insufficient to satisfy the requirements of In re Podesto (1976) 15 Cal.3d 921, 938 [127 Cal.Rptr. 97, 544 P.2d 1297]. The majority correctly hold that the trial court failed to articulate the evidentiary basis for its ruling. Here, petitioner has in essence been penalized for the trial court’s noncompliance with the mandate of Podesto.
 Generally, an appellate court is unable to review the trial court’s exercise of discretion when no explanation of the reasons for denying bail is provided. Whether or not a petitioner should be released on bail is a question which this court is foreclosed from resolving. Our only recourse is to order the trial court to conduct a new bail hearing.
To one whose application for bail on appeal was erroneously denied, such relief is in effect no relief at all. It is well recognized that an application for bail pending appeal “requires . . . speedy determination if relief is to be effective.” (See rule 9(b) Fed. Rules App.Proe., 28 U.S.C., Advis. Com. Note.)
The present case graphically illustrates this problem. Petitioner has spent more than 17 months in jail awaiting resolution of his bail application. If he is entitled to bail, the additional hearing necessitated by the trial court’s failure to comply with the mandate of Podesto will only serve to further delay vindication of his right and further deprive petitioner of his liberty without according him due process of law. In addition, given the many months that have passed since petitioner’s judgment of conviction and sentencing, a decision to grant petitioner’s bail application after the new hearing takes place will have little significance.
The procedural protections outlined by this court in Podesto are useless if there is no adequate remedy for their violation. Only if a trial court complies with Podesto will a petitioner be able to obtain effective relief from an erroneous denial of bail pending appeal. Surely, our trial courts should make the *207effort to comport with those requirements. Perhaps this case will function as a reminder of that important responsibility.