§ 629.471

State v. Brooks · 2000 2 citations

OPINION PAUL H. ANDERSON, Justice. The overriding issue in this case is whether the Minnesota Constitution prohibits monetary bail that can be satisfied only by a cash deposit of the full amount set by the court. Article I, Section 7 of the Minnesota Constitution provides that "[a]ll persons before conviction shall be bailable by sufficient sureties * * *." Appellant, Wesley Eugene Brooks, asserts that a Scott County District Court order setting "cash only bail" violates this provision of Minnesota's Constitution. On appeal, the Minnesota Court of Appeals held "cash only" bail constitutional. Because we conclude that cash only bail violates Minnesota's Constitution, we reverse.[1] The facts in this case are not in dispute. On August 27, 1998, Brooks, a resident of Prior Lake, Minnesota, began a one-year sentence to be served by electronic home monitoring. One condition of Brooks' home monitoring was that he abstain from using any controlled substance. Because a urinalysis taken as Brooks was about to begin his sentence tested positive for cocaine, he was asked to take a second test on September 8, 1998. This test was also positive, indicating that Brooks had been using a controlled substance while on home monitoring. Because Brooks failed the second test, a police officer telephoned Brooks at his residence and spoke with him at approximately 8:30 a.m. on September 11, 1998. The officer informed Brooks that he was at Brooks' residence to return him to jail. Brooks told the officer that he would "be right up," but while the officer waited, Brooks fled. On September 22, 1998, Scott County authorities charged Brooks with escape from custody under Minn. Stat. § 609.485, subd. 2(1), 4(1) (1998). Brooks was subsequently apprehended in Florida. On November 26, 1998, Scott County authorities traveled to Tampa, Florida, took Brooks into custody from Florida authorities, and *347 returned him to Minnesota. Four days later, on November 30, Brooks appeared for his bail hearing. At the hearing, the state specifically requested "cash bail," stating that Brooks represented a flight risk. The judge set bail at $6,000, the statutory maximum for a gross misdemeanor, and further ordered that it be cash only. See Minn. Stat. § 629.471, subd. 1 (1998). At his next appearance on December 7, 1998, before the same judge, Brooks moved for bail reduction or to be allowed to post bond. The court denied the motion. Two days later, on December 9, Brooks appeared for an omnibus/pretrial hearing before a different judge. At this hearing, Brooks again asked the court to reconsider the cash only bail order and moved the court to be allowed to post a bond, arguing that cash only bail is unconstitutional. The state argued that bail should remain cash only because Brooks: (1) represented a high flight risk, (2) had already served a one-year sentence from which he had absconded, and (3) was receiving a substantial income. The second judge denied the motion to allow Brooks to post bond, saying that the matter was already decided and that he would not act as a court of appeals to "reverse the decision made by a member of the bench sitting at the same level." Brooks filed a notice of appeal with the court of appeals arguing that cash only bail is unconstitutional. Both Brooks and the state submitted informal briefs to the court. Although the only transcript ordered and relied on by Brooks was from the December 9 hearing before the second judge, the state's brief contained references to the two hearings before the first judge. Brooks moved to strike from the state's brief those facts not contained in the district court record submitted to the court on appeal. The court of appeals then granted Brooks' motion before receiving the state's response although the period in which a timely response could have been received had not elapsed. See generally, Minn.R.Civ.App.P. 125.01, 125.03, 126.01, 127. In its response, the state argued that if the motion to strike was granted, then the court of appeals did not have jurisdiction to consider the appeal. More particularly, the state argued that because the order being appealed was issued by the first judge and because the second judge refused to reconsider that order, the appeal was not perfected unless it included the first judge's order setting cash only bail and that judge's subsequent order declining to reconsider bail. The court of appeals in an unpublished opinion held that "cash only" bail does not violate the Minnesota Constitution. See State v. Brooks, 1999 WL 153793, at *2 (Minn.App. March 23, 1999). While the court recognized that cash only bail deprives a defendant of commercial bond services, it held that the phrase "sufficient sureties" does not create a constitutional right to post bond. See id. The court reasoned that "[t]he form of the security, as much as its sufficiency, is for the protection of the court and is not a matter of constitutional right to the defendant." Id. On appeal to our court, Brooks asserts that the court of appeals erred and again argues that cash only bail violates Article I, Section 7 of the Minnesota Constitution.

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State v. Houx · 2006 1 citation

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