People v. Watts
Annotate this CaseA Fort Bragg police officer found Watts in possession of 3.86 grams of methamphetamine, 1.16 grams of heroin, and drug paraphernalia. “[N]umerous text messages . . . indicating sales of controlled substances” were found on Watts’s cell phone. Under a plea agreement, she pleaded no contest to possession of methamphetamine for sale. The trial court suspended imposition of the sentence and placed Watts on probation for 36 months subject to conditions, including that she serve 120 days in county jail. Among other fines and fees, the court imposed “the $190 [crime-lab] fee under [section] 11372.5 of the Health and Safety Code.” An addendum to the probation order stated that the $190 “[f]ee imposed include[d] penalty assessments and surcharges as required.” Watts did not object to the imposition of the crime-lab fee or the associated assessments. The court of appeal affirmed, but ordered the penalty assessments imposed on the crime-lab fee stricken. After an extensive discussion of the statutory language, the court concluded that the “most sensible interpretation is that the Legislature intended the crime-lab fee to be exactly what it called it in the first paragraph, a fee, and not a fine, penalty, or forfeiture subject to penalty assessments.”
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