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Name: People v. Orozco
Case #: F060865
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 5 DCA
Opinion Date: 09/14/2011
Summary

It is not an unauthorized sentence for the court to order a defendant to pay for the presentence investigation and report at the time he is sentenced to state prison. At one time, Penal Code section 1203.1b, subdivision (a) provided that the cost of the presentence report and investigation could be ordered for a defendant granted probation or a conditional sentence. It was amended in 1993 to allow for the assessment of such costs “whether or not probation supervision is ordered by the court.” In People v. Robinson (2002) 104 Cal.App.4th 902, the Third District Court of Appeal explained that this new language and the amendment’s legislative history necessitated a conclusion that the statute was meant to apply to all cases, including those in which a defendant is sentenced to state prison. The Robinson interpretation still holds and such an order for expenses is authorized.