State v. Dennis

“A criminal defendant has a right to be present at sentencing. We have repeatedly held that a trial court errs when it imposes fines or fees in a written judgment that it did not pronounce at sentencing.” State v. Baccaro 300 Or App 131, 137, 452 P3d 1022 (2019); State v. Coghill, 298 Or App 818, 819, 448 P3d 1195 (2019).

Defendant appealed a finalized judgment imposing additional fees not discussed at his sentencing hearing. Defendant assigned error to the trial court imposing these fees outside his presence. On appeal, defendant renewed his argument that the court erred when it assigned fees out of his presence. In response, the state argued that the error was harmless. The substance abuse evaluation fee was mandatory, and the victim impact panel fee was implied because defendant has been ordered to attend a victim impact panel in a different case. “A criminal defendant has a right to be present at sentencing. We have repeatedly held that a trial court errs when it imposes fines or fees in a written judgment that it did not pronounce at sentencing.” State v.  Baccaro 300 Or App 131, 137, 452 P3d 1022 (2019); State v. Coghill, 298 Or App 818, 819, 448 P3d 1195 (2019). The Court concluded that at least the victim impact panel fee was not harmless, and the lower court erred in imposing the additional fees outside defendant’s presence.

Reversed and remanded for resentencing on this end; otherwise, affirmed.