People v. Turrin

176 Cal. App. 4th 1200, 98 Cal. Rptr. 3d 471
California Court of Appeal·Decided August 20, 2009·No. C059722·Published·Cited by 166 cases

Opinion

176 Cal.App.4th 1200 (2009)

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
ADAM JAMES TURRIN, Defendant and Appellant.

No. C059722.

Court of Appeals of California, Third District.

August 20, 2009.

*1202 James L. Lozenski, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Charles A. French and Galen N. Farris, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

*1203 OPINION

SIMS, Acting P. J.—

Defendant Adam James Turrin appeals from an order after judgment, denying his motion to modify restitution fines. Defendant's motion was filed some 10 months after judgment was entered, when he was serving his sentence in state prison. We shall conclude that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to entertain the motion and that defendant's appeal must be dismissed.

On September 21, 2007, the trial court imposed an aggregate state prison sentence of three years eight months for felony offenses occurring in 2006 and 2007 and ordered defendant to pay restitution fines (cases Nos. 06NCR03855 ($600), 07SCR03594 ($200) & 07NCR04587 ($200)) and parole revocation restitution fines in the same amounts, suspended unless parole is revoked (Pen. Code, §§ 1202.4, subd. (b), 1202.45; undesignated section references are to the Penal Code). The minute order of September 21, 2007, remands defendant to the custody of the sheriff "forthwith" and orders that he "be delivered to the reception center designated by the director of the California Department of Corrections." The record does not reflect that defendant appealed from the sentence imposed.

Some 10 months later, on July 22, 2008, defendant, in propria persona and serving his sentence at California State Prison (Solano), filed a motion to modify the restitution fines. Defendant argued that there was insufficient evidence that he had the ability to pay the fines from his earnings while incarcerated and that the trial court "could not have justifiably, albeit tacitly, assumed that a prisoner would be able to pay the fine from earnings from employment after his release."[1] In a letter attached to his motion, defendant asked that the fines be reduced to a combined total of $300, an amount he claims he is able to pay, so parole may be transferred to another state when he is released from state prison.

On July 25, 2008, the trial court reviewed defendant's motion for modification and denied the same without prejudice. Defendant, in propria persona, *1204 filed a notice of appeal from the trial court's order of July 25, 2008, denying his motion to modify the sentence.

We appointed counsel to represent defendant on appeal. Counsel filed an opening brief that sets forth the facts of the case and requests this court to review the record and determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 [158 Cal.Rptr. 839, 600 P.2d 1071].) Defendant was advised by counsel of the right to file a supplemental brief within 30 days of the date of filing of the opening brief. More than 30 days elapsed, and we received no communication from defendant.

We requested supplemental briefing on the following two issues: "1. Did the trial court have jurisdiction to rule on defendant's motion on the merits? [¶] 2. If not, should the appeal be dismissed?"

In response, defense appellate counsel submitted a supplemental letter brief. He later requested to withdraw his supplemental brief and to submit on his Wende brief. We granted his request and ordered defendant's supplemental letter brief stricken.

In their supplemental brief, the People argue that the trial court did not have jurisdiction to rule on defendant's motion on the merits and that the appeal should be dismissed. We agree.

Jurisdiction

(1) "[G]enerally a trial court lacks jurisdiction to resentence a criminal defendant after execution of sentence has begun. [Citation.]" (People v. Howard (1997) 16 Cal.4th 1081, 1089 [68 Cal.Rptr.2d 870, 946 P.2d 828]; see People v. Karaman (1992) 4 Cal.4th 335, 344, 347, 350, 352 [14 Cal.Rptr.2d 801, 842 P.2d 100] [court retains power to modify a sentence "at any time prior to execution of the sentence"]; Dix v. Superior Court (1991) 53 Cal.3d 442, 455 [279 Cal.Rptr. 834, 807 P.2d 1063] (Dix); Portillo v. Superior Court (1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1829, 1834-1835 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 709].) There are few exceptions to the rule.

Section 1170, subdivision (d), provides, in relevant part, that a trial court may recall the sentence on its own motion within 120 days after committing a defendant to prison. (Dix, supra, 53 Cal.3d at pp. 456, 464; People v. Alanis (2008) 158 Cal.App.4th 1467, 1475-1476 [71 Cal.Rptr.3d 139].) Section 1170, subdivision (d), does not authorize a defendant to file a motion to recall the *1205 sentence. (People v. Pritchett (1993) 20 Cal.App.4th 190, 193 [24 Cal.Rptr.2d 391].)

A trial court may correct a clerical error, but not a judicial error, at any time. A clerical error is one that is made in recording the judgment; a judicial error is one that is made in rendering the judgment. (People v. Mitchell (2001) 26 Cal.4th 181, 185 [109 Cal.Rptr.2d 303, 26 P.3d 1040]; In re Candelario (1970) 3 Cal.3d 702, 705 [91 Cal.Rptr. 497, 477 P.2d 729]; see People v. Borja (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 481, 483-485 [115 Cal.Rptr.2d 728].)

Also, an unauthorized sentence may be corrected at any time. (People v. Scott (1994) 9 Cal.4th 331, 354-355 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 627, 885 P.2d 1040]; People v. Crooks (1997) 55 Cal.App.4th 797, 811 [64 Cal.Rptr.2d 236].) "The unauthorized sentence exception is `a narrow exception' to the waiver doctrine that normally applies where the sentence `could not lawfully be imposed under any circumstance in the particular case,' for example, `where the court violates mandatory provisions governing the length of confinement.' [Citations.] The class of nonwaivable claims includes `obvious legal errors at sentencing that are correctable without referring to factual findings in the record or remanding for further findings.'" (People v. Brach (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 571, 578 [115 Cal.Rptr.2d 753].) People v. Smith (2001) 24 Cal.4th 849 [102 Cal.Rptr.2d 731, 14 P.3d 942] explained, "We deemed appellate intervention appropriate in these cases because the errors presented `pure questions of law' [citation], and were `"clear and correctable" independent of any factual issues presented by the record at sentencing.'" (Id. at p. 852.) For example, a sentencing court's computational error resulting in an unauthorized sentence can be corrected at any time. (People v. Guillen (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 756, 764 [31 Cal.Rptr.2d 653].) An unauthorized sentence because of an error in restitution must be vacated and the proper sentence imposed whenever the matter is brought to the attention of the trial or reviewing court. (People v. Zito

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People v. Turrin, 176 Cal. App. 4th 1200, 98 Cal. Rptr. 3d 471 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009).

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