People v. Moore

219 Cal. Rptr. 3d 90, 12 Cal. App. 5th 558, 2017 WL 2438828, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 518
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJune 6, 2017
DocketC079171
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 219 Cal. Rptr. 3d 90 (People v. Moore) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Moore, 219 Cal. Rptr. 3d 90, 12 Cal. App. 5th 558, 2017 WL 2438828, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 518 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

HOCH, J.

*560For each conviction of enumerated drug offenses, Health and Safety Code section 11372.51 imposes on defendants a criminal laboratory analysis fee not to exceed $50, and section 11372.7 imposes a drug program fee not to exceed $150. This appeal presents the issue of whether these fees are subject to additional penalty assessments under Penal Code section 1464 and Government Code section 76000. The trial court added penalty assessments to the criminal laboratory analysis fee imposed on defendant Zack Uriah Moore, III, after his conviction of section 11550, subdivision (a), for being under the influence of a controlled substance. In a published decision, the Appellate Division of the Nevada County Superior Court concluded neither section 11372.5 nor 11372.7 was subject to penalty assessments. (People v. Moore (2015) 236 Cal.App.4th Supp. 10, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132 (Moore ).)

On our own motion, we transferred this matter for review. We conclude the levy imposed under section 11372.5 constitutes a fine or penalty that is subject to penalty assessments imposed by Penal Code section 1464 and Government Code section 76000. Despite the similarity of language used in *561sections 11372.5 and 11372.7, we do not reach the issue of the applicability of penalty assessments to 11372.7's drug program fee. The trial court did not impose the drug program fee, and the appellate division erroneously construed a silent record as indicating a failure by the trial court to exercise its discretion in considering whether to impose the drug program fee.

We affirm the trial court's judgment and reverse the appellate division's decision.

*92FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

The facts of the underlying offense are not germane to the issue presented on appeal. Thus, it suffices to recount that defendant was convicted of being under the influence of a controlled substance in violation of section 11550, subdivision (a), and trespassing in violation of Penal Code section 602, subdivision (o). (Moore , supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. Supp. 13, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132 ) The trial court granted defendant three years of summary probation with 110 days in custody, and imposed various fines and fees. Included among the fines and fees was a criminal laboratory analysis testing fee to which the trial court added penalty assessments. However, the trial court did not impose a drug program fee under section 11372.7.

Defendant appealed his conviction to the appellate division. The appellate division sua sponte ordered the parties to brief whether the trial court erred in imposing penalty assessments on the criminal laboratory analysis fee. (Moore , supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. Supp. 13, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.) Defendant argued penalty assessments do not apply to the criminal laboratory analysis fee, and the appellate division agreed. (Ibid . ) The appellate division's analysis determined there to be a split of authority between People v. Vega (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 183, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 700 (Vega ) and People v. Sierra (1995) 37 Cal.App.4th 1690, 44 Cal.Rptr.2d 575 (Sierra ). (Moore , supra , 236 Cal.App.4th at p. Supp. 15, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.) The appellate division dismissed the textual analysis of the applicable statutes advanced by Vega and Sierra as a "mission [that] amounted to a fool's errand." (Moore , at p. Supp. 16, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.)

The appellate division embarked on its own analysis that it tethered to subdivision (l ) of Penal Code section 1463. (Moore, supra, at p. Supp. 17, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.) The appellate division focused on subdivision (l )'s distinction between a "base fine" that is subject to penalty assessments, and a "total fine" to which penalty assessments may not be added again. (Moore, at p. Supp. 17, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.) Concluding criminal laboratory analysis fees and drug program fees were to "be added to the 'total fine,' " the *562appellate division held the trial court erred by adding a penalty assessment to the criminal laboratory analysis fee. (Id. at pp. Supp. 17-18, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.) The appellate division's disposition affirmed defendant's convictions, struck the penalty assessments on the criminal laboratory analysis fee, and remanded the matter to the trial court with directions to consider imposing the drug program fee. (Id. at pp. Supp. 18-19, 187 Cal.Rptr.3d 132.)

On our own motion, we ordered this case transferred and limited the issue for briefing and argument to the question of "whether or not penalty assessments may be properly imposed for fines or fees assessed pursuant to ... sections 11372.5 and 11372.7." (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.1012(e).) We received a brief from the Attorney General but no brief from defendant's appointed appellate counsel.

DISCUSSION

I

Review

" 'General standards of appellate review apply to appeals transferred from the superior court appellate division for decision in the Court of Appeal.' " (Huntington Continental Townhouse Assn., Inc. v. Miner (2014) 230 Cal.App.4th 590, 598, 179 Cal.Rptr.3d 47, quoting People v. Disandro (2010)

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
219 Cal. Rptr. 3d 90, 12 Cal. App. 5th 558, 2017 WL 2438828, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 518, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-moore-calctapp5d-2017.