People v. Soto

245 Cal. App. 4th 1219, 200 Cal. Rptr. 3d 247, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 226
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 25, 2016
DocketH042115
StatusPublished
Cited by28 cases

This text of 245 Cal. App. 4th 1219 (People v. Soto) 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. Soto, 245 Cal. App. 4th 1219, 200 Cal. Rptr. 3d 247, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 226 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Opinion

PREMO, J.

Defendant Mario Lopez Soto pleaded nolo contendere to driving with a blood-alcohol content in excess of 0.08 percent (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (b)) and driving with a suspended license (id., § 14601.2, subd. (a)). He was placed on five years’ felony probation. On appeal, he challenges the trial court’s imposition of a probation condition requiring that he obtain permission from his probation officer or an order from the court prior to changing his residence from Monterey County or leaving the State of California. He also raises arguments pertaining to various fines and fees that were imposed during sentencing. For the reasons set forth below, we modify the order granting probation and affirm the order as modified.

Background

Facts 1

On August 25, 2014, officers responded to a report of a possible violation of a protective order. Defendant’s wife, the subject of the protective order, was aboard a Monterey-Saliñas transit bus, and defendant was following the bus in a car. Officers stopped defendant and noticed an odor of alcohol emanating from his car. They also saw beer cans in plain view on the car floor. Officers searched the car and found several empty beer cans, sealed beer cans, and an open, cold beer can in the car’s center console. Defendant acknowledged that his wife was aboard the bus that he was following and indicated that he knew that there was a protective order in place. He told officers that he followed the bus in his car instead of riding in the same bus as his wife because he thought that he would be in compliance with the protective order that way.

*1225 Procedural History

On October 28, 2014, defendant was charged by information with a count of driving under the influence of alcohol with prior convictions (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)), driving while having a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher with prior convictions (id., subd. (b)), driving when his privilege was suspended for a prior DUI (driving under the influence) conviction (id., § 14601.2, subd. (a)), driving with a suspended license (id., § 14601.5, subd. (a)), driving when his privilege was suspended or revoked (id., § 14601.1, subd. (a)), and violating a criminal protective order (Pen. Code, § 166, subd. (c)(1)). 2

On January 22, 2015, defendant pleaded nolo contendere to driving with a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent or higher with prior convictions (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (b)) and driving when his privilege was suspended for a prior DUI conviction (id., § 14601.2, subd. (a)). He also admitted his prior convictions. He stipulated to a factual basis for his plea on his waiver form, indicating that “[o]n or about August 25, 2014, [defendant] drove a motor vehicle while his BAC [blood-alcohol content] was in excess of .08.”

On March 19, 2015, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on five years’ formal probation. Defendant was ordered to “[n]ot change place of residence from Monterey County or leave [the] State of California without permission of the probation officer or further order of the court.” He objected to the imposition of this condition, arguing that it was an unconstitutional infringement on his right to interstate travel. Defendant also asserted that there was no “length [sic] with his state of residence with respect to the criminality involved in this particular case.”

Defendant was also ordered to pay certain fines and fees as a condition of his probation. The court’s minute order reflects that he was ordered to “[p]ay a fine of $390.00 plus penalty assessments, restitution fine and administrative fees for a total of $2,104.00. [¶] (Penalty assessments total $1,209.00 and include: (1) $390.00 per PC 1464(a)(1); (2) $273.00 per GC 76000(a)(1); (3) $78.00 per PC 1465.7; (4) $195.00 per GC 70372; (5) $78.00 per GC 76000.5; (6) $39.00 per GC 76104.6(a)(1); and (7) $156.00 per GC 76104.7.) Additional fees total $125.00 and include: (1) $25.00 per VC23645(a); and (2) $100.00 per VC23649(a). Administrative fees total $80.00 and include [(1)] $25.00 per PC 1463.07; and (2) $55.00 per PC 1205(d). Restitution fine is $300.00 per PC 1202.4(b).” Defendant was also ordered to “[p]ay an additional restitution fine of $150.00 to the State Restitution Fund for count 3. (PC 1202.4(b).)”

*1226 Defendant appealed.

Discussion

On appeal, defendant challenges the validity of the probation condition requiring that he obtain permission from his probation officer “or further order of the court” before changing his place of residence from Monterey County or leaving the State of California. He also challenges the trial court’s imposition of certain fines and fees and argues that some of the fines and fees cannot be imposed as conditions of probation. We address his claims regarding the change of residence probation condition first.

1. Probation Condition

On appeal, defendant challenges the imposition of the probation condition requiring that he obtain approval before changing his residence from Monterey County or leaving the State of California on the grounds that the condition is not reasonably related to his crime or to future criminality and that the condition is unconstitutionally overbroad. We address his claim that the condition was unreasonable first.

Under Lent, a condition is “invalid [if] it ‘(1) has no relationship to the crime of which the offender was convicted, (2) relates to conduct which is not in itself criminal, and (3) requires or forbids conduct which is not reasonably related to future criminality.’ ” (People v. Lent (1975) 15 Cal.3d 481, 486 [124 Cal.Rptr. 905, 541 P.2d 545].) “This test is conjunctive — all three prongs must be satisfied before a reviewing court will invalidate a probation term.” (People v. Olguin (2008) 45 Cal.4th 375, 379 [87 Cal.Rptr.3d 199, 198 P.3d 1] (Olguin).)

Here, we find that the challenged condition satisfies the first two prongs of the Lent test. There is nothing in the record to indicate that the crimes that he was convicted of, driving with a suspended license and driving with a blood-alcohol content greater than 0.08 percent, are reasonably related to where he lives, or can be influenced by whether he leaves the state. Further, the condition relates to conduct which is not in itself criminal. There is nothing inherently illegal in either moving out of the county or taking an out-of-state trip.

At issue is the last prong of the Lent test, whether the condition is reasonably related to defendant’s future criminality. Defendant opines that we should follow the rationale set forth in People v. Bauer (1989) 211 Cal.App.3d 937 [260 Cal.Rptr. 62], The Bauer court considered a similarly worded probation condition requiring that the defendant’s residence be subject to his

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
245 Cal. App. 4th 1219, 200 Cal. Rptr. 3d 247, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 226, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-soto-calctapp-2016.