People v. Hernandez CA4/1
- Proceeding
- appeal from an order
- Trial court
- Superior Court of Riverside County · No. RIF129735
- Trial judge
- Gail A. O’Rane
- Outcome
- affirmed — Affirmed.
- Area
- criminal
- Panel
- Richard D. Huffman, Sr. (author), Buchanan, Julia C. Kelety
Analysis
The trial court denied Hernandez's nonstatutory motion to stay fines and fees, finding that there were no unpaid fines or fees due. The Court of Appeal affirmed the order, concluding that the appeal was not from an appealable order and that the appellant failed to raise any potentially meritorious issues.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Denial of nonstatutory motion to stay all fines and fees in excess of $200“The trial court reviewed Hernandez’s motion and concluded there are no unpaid fines which are due.” | unclear | correct | agree with court The appellate court affirmed the denial, noting that the appellant failed to establish that any specific fines were subject to collection and that the appeal was likely not from an appealable order. The court found no arguable issues for reversal. |
Authorities
- relied: People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 — Establishes the procedure for reviewing appeals from orders denying motions to vacate or stay fines and fees, allowing the court to exercise discretion to follow Wende procedure.
- relied: People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 — Establishes the procedure for independent review of the record for error when appointed counsel cannot identify meritorious issues.
The appellate opinion: sound — The opinion is sound because it correctly applies the Delgadillo and Wende procedures to determine that the appellant failed to raise any potentially meritorious issues. The court's conclusion that the appeal is not from an appealable order and that no specific fines were shown to be due is supported by the record described in the opinion.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
unusual dispositionThe Riverside County Superior Court denied Steven Hernandez's 2023 nonstatutory motion to stay all fines and fees in excess of $200 imposed in his 2007 judgment, finding by written order that no fines or fees were due and so there was nothing to stay. On appeal, appointed counsel filed a Delgadillo brief, the Court of Appeal exercised its discretion to independently review the record, found no arguable issues in the record or in Hernandez's supplemental brief, and affirmed the order.
| Ruling reviewed | Standard | The court | The model |
|---|---|---|---|
Denial of Hernandez's nonstatutory motion to stay all fines and fees in excess of $200 on the ground that no fines or fees were due“The trial court denied the “motion” by written order, finding there were no fines or fees due, thus there was nothing to stay.” | unclear | correct | agree with court The court conducted a discretionary Wende-style independent review under Delgadillo and found no arguable issue; it noted the judgment had been final for over a decade, nothing in the record showed any fine was unauthorized, and Hernandez identified no specific fine currently subject to collection. That reasoning supports the result, although the court expressly noted counsel's doubt that the order was appealable and never resolved appealability or trial-court jurisdiction, which published authority treats as grounds for dismissal rather than affirmance. |
Authorities
- relied: People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 — In an appeal from a postconviction order where appointed counsel finds no arguable issues, Wende review is not constitutionally required, but the Court of Appeal may exercise its discretion to independently review the record and must consider any supplemental brief the defendant files.
- relied: People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 — Establishes the procedure for independent appellate review of the record when appointed counsel identifies no arguable issues on appeal.
- missed: People v. Torres (2020) 44 Cal.App.5th 1081 — A trial court lacks jurisdiction to entertain a freestanding postjudgment motion to modify or strike fines and fees once the judgment is final; the order denying such a motion is nonappealable and the appeal should be dismissed rather than affirmed.
The appellate opinion: sound with gaps — The court properly applied Delgadillo, exercised discretionary independent review, and addressed the defendant's supplemental brief, reaching a defensible result that no relief was available on a decade-old final judgment. It skipped the appealability and jurisdiction question it itself flagged, and published authority such as Torres indicates the correct disposition of an appeal from a nonappealable order denying a nonstatutory fines motion is dismissal, not affirmance.
How this analysis was made · dispute it
unusual dispositionOpinion
Filed 9/20/23 P. v. Hernandez CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION ONE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
THE PEOPLE, D082087
Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Super. Ct. No. RIF129735)
STEVEN G. HERNANDEZ, Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Gail A. O’Rane, Judge. Affirmed. Steven G. Hernandez, in pro. per.; and John L. Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent. In 2007, a jury convicted Steven G. Hernandez of three counts of assault with a firearm (Pen. Code,1 § 245, subd. (a)(2)), two counts of felon in possession of a firearm (§ 12021, subd. (a)(1)), shooting into an inhabited dwelling (§ 246) and first degree burglary (§ 459). The court made a true 1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. finding that Hernandez had suffered two strike prior convictions (§ 667, subds. (b)-(i)) and that Hernandez also had a serious felony prior conviction (§ 667, subd. (a)(1)). The court sentenced Hernandez to an indeterminate term of 25 years to life in prison on each count. The court imposed various fines and assessment including a $5,000 restitution fine. In 2023, Hernandez filed a nonstatutory “motion” to stay all fines and fees in excess of $200. The trial court denied the “motion” by written order, finding there were no fines or fees due, thus there was nothing to stay. Hernandez filed a notice of appeal. Although appellate counsel doubts the purported appeal is from an appealable order, counsel has filed a brief pursuant to People v. Delgadillo (2022) 14 Cal.5th 216 (Delgadillo) indicating counsel has not been able to identify any potentially meritorious issues for reversal on appeal. Counsel asks the court to exercise its discretion to independently review the record for error under the procedure used in cases controlled by People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). We notified Hernandez he could file his own brief on appeal. He has responded with a lengthy document, which we have reviewed. As we will discuss below, his submission does not raise any potentially meritorious issues for reversal on appeal.2 DISCUSSION Appellate counsel recognizes this purported appeal from the denial of Hernandez’s motion to vacate certain fines and fees which were imposed in the original judgment is governed by Delgadillo. Under the procedure 2 The facts of the 2007 offenses are not relevant to the resolution of this particular appeal. Therefore, we will exempt a statement of facts in this opinion. 2 established by our Supreme Court, our court can exercise its discretion to follow the Wende procedure. We have independently reviewed the record for error. We have not discovered any potentially meritorious issues for reversal on appeal. Hernandez’s brief has not raised any such issues. The supplemental brief assumes the trial court had jurisdiction to revisit the fines and fees contained in a judgment that has been final for a decade or more. There is nothing in the record to support a claim that any of the fines and fees imposed in the original judgment are unauthorized. The trial court reviewed Hernandez’s motion and concluded there are no unpaid fines which are due. Hernandez supports his claim by copies of the abstract of judgment from 2009. He did not establish in the trial court any specific fines which are subject to collection at this time. In short, Hernandez has not raised any arguable issues for reversal on appeal. DISPOSITION The order denying Hernandez’s motion to vacate all fines in excess of $200 is affirmed.
HUFFMAN, Acting P. J.
WE CONCUR:
BUCHANAN, J.
KELETY, J.
Cites, in this corpus
- People v. Delgadillo S266305 · 2022-12-19
- People v. Wende Crim. 20851 · 1979-10-12