State v. Wehr

The trial court may not impose a sentence requiring payment of court-appointed attorney fees without evidence in the record that the defendant is or may be able to pay such fees. With invited error, a party “cannot be heard to complain,” if the party “was actively instrumental in bringing [it] about."

Defendant appealed a judgment of a conviction, specifically arguing that the trial court committed plain error in ordering Defendant to pay fees for his court-appointed attorney. The State argued that the decision should stand because any error was invited by Defendant and any error was not plain error. Defendant argued that the trial court erred because there was no evidence presented showing that Defendant could or could not pay the fee. The State argued that there was evidence presented showing that Defendant could pay the fee based off the various jobs Defendant held. Further, the Court agreed with the State finding that Defendant was actively instrumental in bringing the error by placing the figure in a memo under a “recommendation” heading. Affirmed.