Tag Archives: Fines and fees

Amelioration, Duty of the court, Fines and fees, Sentencing

Case 000646

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

On resentencing under section 1172.75, the court should have vacated the restitution fine, as it was more than 10 years old.

Holding:

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 1186 (Stats. 2024, ch. 805, sec. 1) amended section 1465.9 to add subdivision (d). The statute now provides: “Upon the expiration of 10 years after the date of imposition of a restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.4, the balance, including any collection fees, shall be unenforceable and uncollectible and any portion of a judgment imposing those fines shall be vacated.” The resentencing pursuant to section 1172.75 did not restart section 1465.9’s 10-year clock anew.

Authority:

PEN 1465.9(d)

People v. Salstrom (2025) 117 Cal.App.5th 596, 600, review granted and briefing deferred on a different issue, March 11, 2026, S295038

Abstracts and Minutes, Amelioration, Fines and fees, Sentencing

Case 000643

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

The defendant was resentenced under section 1172.75. The restitution fine must be vacated, as it is more than 10 years old. The abstract of judgment must be corrected to reflect the oral pronouncement of judgment accurately.

First Holding:

Effective January 1, 2025, the Legislature amended section 1465.9 to add subdivision (d), which states: “Upon the expiration of 10 years after the date of imposition of a restitution fine pursuant to Section 1202.4, the balance, including any collection fees, shall be unenforceable and uncollectible and any portion of a judgment imposing those fines shall be vacated.” The fine in this case appears to have been imposed at the original sentencing in 1994, and must be vacated.

Authority:

PEN 1469.5

Second Holding:

Though the abstract of judgment from 1994 does not reflect whether the trial court imposed the mandatory minimum restitution fine under section 1202.4(b), we presume, as the People argue, the court did. Thus, the superior court’s order imposing the restitution fine at the defendant’s resentencing in 2024 essentially reimposed the fine imposed in 1994, which section 1465.9 has now made unenforceable and uncollectible. We construe the superior court’s order as simply reimposing the original restitution fine, and the 10-year clock did not start anew.

Authority:

EVID 664 [It is presumed that official duty has been regularly performed]

People v. Ramirez (2021) 10 Cal.5th 983, 1042 [we presume that the trial court knew the law and followed it in imposing a restitution fine under section 1202.4]

People v. Stowell (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1107, 1114 [a trial court is presumed to have been aware of and followed the applicable law]

People v. Salstrom (2025) 117 Cal.App.5th 596, review granted on another point, March 11, 2026, S295038

Third Holding:

After imposing the $300 restitution fine, the superior court stated: “$300 parole revocation fine, that is stayed pending successful—Well, I am going to strike that. There is no parole that’s going to be granted in this case.” As noted, the minute order and abstract of judgment indicate the court (1) imposed and stayed execution of a parole revocation fine under section 1202.45 and (2) imposed and struck “all financial obligations, excluding any actual victim restitution.” The reporter’s transcript of the resentencing hearing does not state the court made these rulings. The superior court must correct the minute order and abstract of judgment to reflect the oral pronouncement of judgment.

Authority:

People v. Burke (2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 237, 244 [Ordinarily, where there is a discrepancy between the oral pronouncement of judgment and the abstract of judgment, the oral pronouncement controls]

People v. Farell (2002) 28 Cal.4th 381, 384, fn. 2 [The record of the oral pronouncement of the court controls over the clerk’s minute order]

People v. Portillo (2023) 91 Cal.App.5th 577, 603 [the oral pronouncement of sentence controls over a subsequently entered minute order]

Fourth Holding:

Courts may correct clerical errors at any time, and appellate courts . . . have ordered correction of abstracts of judgment that did not accurately reflect the oral judgments of sentencing courts.

Authority:

People v. Mitchell (2001) 26 Cal.4th 181, 185

People v. Jones (2012) 54 Cal.4th 1, 89

People v. Garcia (2024) 101 Cal.App.5th 848, 859

People v. Gobert (2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 676, 689 [we must correct the discrepancy by ordering the trial court to modify the minute order]

Fines and fees, Sentencing

Case 000642

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

On resentencing under section 1172.75, the trial court erred by awarding fewer presentence conduct credits than ordered at the original sentencing, and the restitution fine must be vacated as it is now more than 10 years old.

First Holding:

Erroneous computation of presentence credits are subject to correction by the trial court or the appellate court when presented.

Authority:

People v. Guillen (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 756, 764

Second Holding:

The restitution fine was imposed at the time of the original sentencing in 1995. Section 1465.9(d) now provides that, upon the expiration of 10 years after the date of imposition of a restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.4, the balance, including any collection fees, shall be unenforceable and uncollectible and any portion of a judgment imposing those fines shall be vacated,

Authority:

PEN 1465.9(d)

Fines and fees, Sentencing

Case 000630

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

It was error for the court to impose a no contact order under section 1202.05, because the victim was an adult. The trial court was required, however, to consider whether to issue a protective order under section 136.2(i)(1). We accordingly remand the matter for the trial court to do so. In addition, the abstract of judgment must be corrected to reflect that the restitution fine was stayed, and to reflect the actual date of sentencing. Also, the minute order fails to reflect the true finding of aggravating circumstances on one of the counts.

First Holding:

Section 1202.05 provides that if a defendant receives a prison sentence for certain sexual offenses against a victim who is a child under the age of 18 years, the court shall prohibit all visitation between the defendant and the child victim. The restrictions on visitation imposed by the provision apply only to victims who are under the age of 18 at the time of the contemplated visitation. Section 136.2(i)(1) does provide authority for the court to impose a protective order.

Although the trial court acknowledged the victim’s status as an adult when it issued the order, there is nothing in the record to show that the trial court contemplated issuing the no-contact order under section 136.2(i)(1). Moreover, the no-contact order issued by the court did not conform to the requirements of section 136.2(i)(1). Section 136.2(i)(1) provides in part that, when a criminal defendant has been convicted of a crime that requires the defendant to register pursuant to section 290(c), the court, at the time of sentencing, shall consider issuing an order restraining the defendant from any contact with a victim of the crime.

Authority:

PEN 1202.05

PEN 136.2(i)(1)

People v. Scott (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 1303, 1323

Second Holding:

The abstract of judgment contains clerical errors that should be corrected. At sentencing, the court imposed but stayed a $10,000 restitution fine under section 1202.4(b). The abstract of judgment reflects that the fine was imposed but not that it was stayed. I

n addition, the abstract incorrectly indicates that the defendant was sentenced more than a month after the date he was actually sentenced. We accordingly direct the trial court to amend the abstract to make these corrections. In addition, the sentencing minute order should be corrected to accurately reflect the sentence orally pronounced.

The corrected minute order from the bifurcated proceeding at which the trial court found the aggravating circumstances true does not reflect that the court found those circumstances true as to one of the counts.

Authority:

People v. Mitchell (2001) 26 Cal.4th 181, 185-188

People v. Wynn (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 1210, 1221

Amelioration, Fines and fees, Retroactivity, Sentencing, Standard of review

Case 000629

Posted on by Gary McCurdy

Error and/or relief

At the resentencing hearing under section 1172.75, the superior court imposed a $10,000 restitution fine under section 1202.4(b), that is no longer enforceable or collectible, and it imposed additional fines and fees that were not originally imposed and which came into effect after the defendant’s original sentencing. We modify the judgment by vacating the challenged fines and fees.

First Holding:

In 2021, the Legislature enacted SB (Stats. 2021 (2021-2022 Reg. Sess.), retroactively invalidating prison prior enhancements imposed pursuant to section 667.5(b), except those that were based on a conviction for a sexually violent offense. Once the court verifies that the current judgment includes such a sentencing enhancement, the court shall recall the sentence and resentence the defendant. Resentencing under section 1172.75 is not limited to striking the section 667.5(b), enhancement. Rather, the court must conduct a full resentencing.

Authority:

PEN 1172.75

People v. Green (2024) 104 Cal.App.5th 365, 368, 373

People v. Rogers (2025) 108 Cal.App.5th 340, 348, fn. 5

People v. Gray (2024) 101 Cal.App.5th 148, 163

People v. Burgess (2022) 86 Cal.App.5th 375, 381

People v. Garcia (2024) 101 Cal.App.5th 848, 855

Second Holding:

Our review of the imposition of fines and fees is de novo.

Authority:

People v. Arroyo (2016) 62 Cal.4th 589, 593 [de novo review in cases of statutory interpretation]

People v. Guillen (2013) 218 Cal.App.4th 975, 983 [authority of trial court to impose fine or fees turns on relevant statutory provisions and presents essentially an issue of law]

Third Holding:

Effective January 1, 2025, section 1465.9 was amended to add subdivision (d), which provides that, on the expiration of 10 years after the date of imposition of a restitution fine pursuant to section 1202.4, the balance, including any collection fees, shall be unenforceable and uncollectible and any portion of a judgment imposing those fines shall be vacated. The defendant was resentenced in November 2024, weeks before the effective date of the amendment. But the amendment applies retroactively to his sentence. The section 1202.4 restitution fine, which was imposed over 10 years ago in 2003, must therefore be vacated.

Authority:

PC 1465.9

In re Estrada (1965) 63 Cal.2d 740, 748 [absent evidence to the contrary, we presume ameliorative criminal statutes apply retroactively to all nonfinal judgments]

Fourth Holding:

The statute authorizing the remaining fines and fees did not become effective until after the defendant’s conviction. Accordingly, the superior court was not authorized to impose these fines and fees on resentencing.

Authority:

People v. Alford (2007) 42 Cal.4th 749, 754

People v. Castillo (2010) 182 Cal.App.4th 1410, 1414

People v. Hayes (1989) 49 Cal.3d 1260, 1274 [A new statute is generally presumed to operate prospectively absent an express declaration of retroactivity or a clear and compelling implication that the Legislature intended otherwise]