People v. Ceja CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

Armando Ceja appeals from the imposition of various fines imposed by the trial court during sentencing after he pled guilty to robbery. He asserts recent changes enacted by Assembly Bill No. 1869 (2019–2020 Reg. Sess.) require us to strike the trial court’s imposition of a $154 criminal justice administration fee pursuant to the now-repealed Government Code section 29550.1, and that the trial court erred by imposing the additional fees without determining his ability to pay. We will modify the judgment to vacate that portion of the $154 fee that remained unpaid as of July 1, 2021, but conclude Ceja forfeited his argument regarding the ability to pay, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in determining he had the ability to pay, and any error was harmless. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment as modified in all other respects.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On December 5, 2019, 24-year-old Ceja was arrested after he entered his ex-girlfriend’s residence without permission, struck her in the mouth, took her cell phone, and ran away with it. The ex-girlfriend had previously reported an incident in which Ceja had elbowed her, pulled her hair, injured her arm,…