Opinion ID: 1132505
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Making Attorney Fees Payable Before Fines

Text: The commission found: In cases where both a fine was levied and an attorney fee order was imposed under section 987.8, and payment was postponed, petitioner's usual practice was to make the fee payable before the fine. The findings describe 29 cases between June 1979 and December 1980 in which petitioner made such orders. Most of the ordered fees were for $50 or $100; the fines were greater. The commission further found that the order of payment was not set at the request or with the consent of the defendant, that payments were routinely applied first to fees, leaving defendants subject to further proceedings with respect to fines, and that the order of payment might present an unreasonable obstacle to satisfaction of the fine where the defendant was unable to pay both fee and fine. These findings are supported by clear and convincing evidence. The 29 described cases are documented by copies of court docket sheets, introduced as exhibits. A deputy public defender testified that between May and August 1979, petitioner ordinarily made the fee payable before the fine. Another deputy testified that from May 1979 to January 1980, petitioner would make the fee payable either at the same time as or before the fine; thereafter to February 1981 petitioner would require that the fee be paid first. A witness who had served as petitioner's courtroom clerk during 1979 and 1980 could recall cases in which petitioner ordered fees paid before fines but not vice versa; his guess was that it went both ways. Deputy public defenders and the courtroom clerk testified that the proceedings by which petitioner set attorney fees were very short and that petitioner generally would tell the defendant little more than the amount of the fee and when it was payable. The exhibits include at least five cases in which, after payment of fees, the subsequently payable fines became delinquent, and sanctions (e.g., revocation of probation, issuance of bench warrant) were imposed for that and other delinquencies. The masters found, however, that there was no instance in evidence of incarceration for failure to pay a fine because of prior use of funds to pay fees ordered; this was due in part to a liberal continuance policy and a community service option with respect to fine obligations. Petitioner testified it was not his general policy to require attorney fees to be paid before the fine and suggested, in testimony and in his briefs, that the exhibits introduced against him selectively omitted cases in which he ordered the fines paid first. But he introduced no evidence of such cases. He also testified that he always consulted defendants about the due dates for fines and fees and followed their suggestions if within reason. (3) Petitioner also argues that his orders for payment of fees ahead of fines were within the broad authority given him by section 987.8, subdivision (a), to order payment of legal costs in the manner in which the court believes reasonable and compatible with the defendant's financial ability. The Attorney General (representing the commission) replies, and we agree, that orders which otherwise would have been within petitioner's statutory discretion became an abuse of that discretion when used to prolong the availability of sanctions for nonpayment of fines and create the impression that such sanctions could also be imposed for nonpayment of fees. As will be explained, the practice of making fees payable ahead of fines was only one among several improper means employed by petitioner to enforce attorney fee orders. That pattern of conduct, together with the weight given the masters' resolution of credibility issues, reinforces our determination that petitioner in fact engaged in the practice in question.