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Name: People v. Valtakis
Case #: A096508
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 1 DCA
Division: 2
Opinion Date: 01/30/2003
Subsequent History: none
Summary

A defendant who fails to object at sentencing to noncompliance with probation fee procedures in Penal Code section 1203.1b [ability to pay and right to hearing], waives the issue on appeal. (People v. Welch (1993) 5 Cal.4th 228; People v. Scott (1994) 9 Cal.4th 331.) Appellant pled to a possession for sale offense. The probation report recommended a restitution fine of $200 (Pen. Code, sec. 1202.4), a drug lab fee of $50 (Health & Saf. Code, sec. 11372.5), and a probation fee of $250 (Pen. Code, sec. 1203.1). The report also included a discussion of appellant’s current standing in college and part-time work. The court placed appellant on probation, ordered the recommended fines and fees, and also ordered him to pay, although “not part of his probationary grant,” the probation fee service of $250. No objection was lodged to any of these fees. On appeal, appellant challenged the $250 probation fee as not complying with the statutory requirements of section 1203.1b. But his failure to object in the trial court to statutory error in the imposition of the fee waives it for purposes of appeal. Even if he did, there was no prejudice. The record did not suggest inability to pay the $250 (e.g., when he was arrested he had $255 on him). And, if the circumstances have changed, the statute itself provides a remedy by allowing additional hearings on his ability to pay anytime during the probationary period based on a showing of change of circumstances. (Pen. Code, sec. 1203.1b, subd. (c).)