People v. Ames CA4/2

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 8, 2021
DocketE073049
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Ames CA4/2 (People v. Ames CA4/2) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Ames CA4/2, (Cal. Ct. App. 2021).

Opinion

Filed 3/8/21 P. v. Ames CA4/2

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, E073049

v. (Super.Ct.No. FMB17000152)

KENNETH LLOYD AMES, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from the Superior Court of San Bernardino County. Joel S. Agron,

Judge. Affirmed with directions.

Jason Szydlik, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and

Appellant.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney

General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Alana R.

Butler and Marvin E. Mizell, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

1 I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant, Kenneth Lloyd Ames, appeals the May 22, 2018 order of

the superior court, revoking his mandatory supervision and ordering him to complete the

rest of his five-year split sentence in county jail. (See Pen. Code, § 1170, subd. (h)(5).)

The five-year split sentence was imposed on March 29, 2017, and includes two one-year

terms for two prison priors under former section 667.5, subdivision (b). (Stats. 2014,

ch. 442, § 10.) The court also imposed several fines and fees.

In this appeal, defendant raises five claims of error: (1) his two one-year prison

priors must be stricken from his five-year split sentence because he is entitled to the

benefits of Senate Bill No. 136 (Senate Bill 136) (2019-2020 Reg. Sess.), which became

effective on January 1, 2020, during the pendency of the current appeal; (2) the matter

must be remanded to the trial court to determine whether he has the present ability to pay

his $300 restitution fine and $70 in court assessments; (3) a $41 crime prevention fee was

unauthorized and must be stricken; (4) a $30 administrative fee on his $300 restitution

fine must also be stricken; and (5) the trial court’s records must be corrected to show that

the court imposed a $300, not a $330, mandatory supervision revocation restitution fine.

We agree that defendant is entitled to the benefits of Senate Bill 136 and to have

his two prison priors stricken from his five-year sentence. The People concede, and we

also agree, that the $41 crime prevention fee must also be stricken as unauthorized, and

the court’s records must be corrected to show it imposed a $300 rather than a $330

mandatory supervision revocation restitution fine. We conclude, however, that the $30

administrative fee on the $300 restitution fine was properly imposed. We remand the

2 matter to conduct an ability to pay hearing on the $300 restitution fine and the $70 in

court assessments.

We affirm the May 22, 2018 order in all other respects.

II. FACTS AND PROCEDURE

On March 29, 2017, defendant pled guilty to possessing a cane sword (Pen. Code,

§ 20510) and admitted to two prison priors (former § 667.5, subd. (b)).1 Three other

prison prior allegations were dismissed. The court imposed a five-year aggregate term:

the upper term of three years for possessing the cane sword (§§ 20510, 1170,

subd. (h)(1)), plus two years—one year each for the two prison priors (former § 667.5,

subd. (b)). The court awarded defendant 30 days of custody credits and suspended his

remaining four-year-11-month sentence pending his successful completion of mandatory

supervision. (§ 1170, subd. (h)(5)(A).) On May 22, 2018, defendant admitted violating

the terms of his mandatory supervision, the court revoked the mandatory supervision, and

the court ordered defendant to serve the rest of his five-year term in county jail.

In imposing the five-year split sentence on March 29, 2017, the court imposed

several fines and fees, including a $40 court operations fee (Pen. Code, § 1465.8), a $30

court construction fee (Gov. Code, § 70373), and a $300 restitution fine (Pen. Code,

§ 1202.4, subd. (b)).

The March 29, 2017 minute order shows that the court also imposed an aggregate

crime prevention fine of $41 (§ 1202.5), and a 10 percent administrative fee of $30 on the

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

3 $300 restitution fine (§ 1202.4, subd. (l).) But, in orally pronouncing the March 29, 2017

judgment, the court did not mention the $41 fine or the $30 administrative fee. Similarly,

the May 22, 2018 minute order states that the court ordered defendant to pay a $330

mandatory supervision revocation restitution fine (§ 1202.45, subd. (b)), but the court did

not mention the $330 fine in orally issuing the May 22, 2018 order. Defendant appeals

from May 22, 2018 order, and he has obtained a certificate of probable cause.2

III. DISCUSSION

A. The Two Prison Priors Must Be Stricken from Defendant’s Five-year Sentence

Defendant claims that the two one-year terms that were imposed based on his two

prison priors must be stricken from his five-year aggregate sentence because the

March 29, 2017 judgment imposing the five-year split sentence was not final on appeal

when Senate Bill 136 took effect on January 1, 2020. We agree.

2 On August 1, 2018, the superior court received defendant’s untimely notice of appeal from the May 22, 2018 order (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.308), and on August 3, 2018, the court denied defendant’s request for a certificate of probable cause that accompanied his notice of appeal. Defendant then petitioned this court for a writ of habeas corpus in In re Ames (Jun. 25, 2019, E072285), deeming his August 1, 2018 notice of appeal timely filed based on the “prison-delivery rule.” (In re Jordan (1992) 4 Cal.4th 116, 130; Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.25(b)(5).) We granted the petition and, at defendant’s request, we take judicial notice of our file in In re Ames, supra, E072285. (Evid. Code, §§ 452, subd. (d), 459, subd. (a).) On June 25, 2019, in In re Ames, supra, E072285, this court ordered the superior court clerk to deem defendant’s August 1, 2018 notice of appeal timely, to file it, and to prepare the normal record on appeal. On December 6, 2019, we granted defendant’s motion for leave to obtain a late certificate of probable cause. On December 12, 2019, defendant filed a second notice of appeal from the May 22, 2018 order, along with a second request for a certificate of probable case. On December 16, 2019, the superior court granted defendant’s second request for a certificate of probable cause. On December 17, 2019, defendant filed his operative notice of appeal, which has been deemed timely filed from the May 22, 2018 order.

4 1. Senate Bill 136 and the Estrada3 Rule

On October 8, 2019, the Governor signed Senate Bill 136, which amended

Penal Code section 667.5, subdivision (b), effective January 1, 2020. (People v. Lopez

(2019) 42 Cal.App.5th 337, 340-341.) Under the current version of the statute, a one-

year prison prior enhancement may only be imposed on a defendant who has served a

prior prison term for a sexually violent offense, defined in subdivision (b) of Welfare and

Institutions Code section 6600, and who did not thereafter remain free of custody for five

years. (Lopez, at pp. 340-341; Pen.

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