People v. Sousa CA5

California Court of Appeal Jun 30, 2022 No. F082888Unpublished

AI Brief

AI-generated · verify before citing

Holding. The court held that the defendant forfeited his claims regarding the imposition of statutory minimum fines and fees by failing to object at the sentencing hearing, and further failed to establish ineffective assistance of counsel.

Issues

Whether the trial court was required to stay the imposition of statutory minimum fines and fees pending an ability-to-pay hearing under People v. Dueñas.
Whether the imposition of statutory minimum fines and fees violated the Eighth Amendment and equal protection.
Whether defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the imposition of the fines and fees.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“We conclude defendant has forfeited the claims and has not shown ineffective assistance of counsel.”

“At the 2021 sentencing hearing in this case, the defense had notice of Dueñas, which had been filed in 2019, but defense counsel failed to object to imposition of the minimum fines and fees under Dueñas or any other authority.”

Filed 6/30/22 P. v. Sousa CA5

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA FIFTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, F082888, F082890 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. Nos. PCF386247, v. PCF395446)

MARIO GEORGE SOUSA, OPINION Defendant and Appellant.

THE COURT* APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Tulare County. Kathryn T. Montejano, Judge. Allan E. Junker, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Michael A. Canzoneri and Clifford E. Zall, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. -ooOoo-

* Before Hill, P. J., Peña, J. and DeSantos, J.

Defendant Mario George Sousa was convicted by no contest plea of nine counts in two cases. On appeal, he contends (1) the statutorily mandated court operations assessment (Pen. Code, § 1465.8)1 and court facilities assessment (Gov. Code, § 70373) must be stayed pending an ability-to-pay hearing, pursuant to People v. Dueñas (2019) 30 Cal.App.5th 1157 (Dueñas), and (2) the trial court’s imposition of the statutory minimum $300 restitutions fines (§§ 1202.4, 1202.45), without explicit consideration of defendant’s ability to pay, violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against excessive fines and guarantee of equal protection. We affirm. BACKGROUND2 On October 15, 2020, defendant pled no contest to the following counts: In case No. PCF395446, he pled to domestic violence (§ 273.5, subd. (a); count 1), child endangerment (§ 273a, subd. (a); count 3), carrying a concealed dirk or dagger (§ 21320; count 4), and misdemeanor resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); count 5); in case No. PCF386247, he pled to being a felon in possession of a firearm (§ 29800, subd. (a)(1); count 1), unlawful firearm activity (§ 29805; count 2), possession of a controlled substance while armed with a firearm (Health & Saf. Code, § 11370.1; count 3), being a felon in possession of ammunition (§ 30305, subd. (a)(1); count 4), and misdemeanor resisting arrest (§ 148, subd. (a)(1); count 5). The plea was in exchange for a three-year prison term and dismissal of the remaining counts. On May 14, 2021, the trial court sentenced defendant to the agreed-upon three years in prison. In case No. PCF395446, the court imposed a $2,700 section 1202.4 restitution fine, a $2,700 suspended section 1202.45 probation revocation restitution fine, a $1,000 section 294 restitution fine, a $160 court operations assessment, and a $150 court facilities assessment. In case No. PCF386247, the court imposed a

People v. Sousa CA5

AI Brief

More from California Court of Appeal

Related research

AI Brief