State v. Laune

The trial court plainly erred in assessing petitioner’s ability to pay attorney fees, it is incorrect to assume bail posted by a non-spouse third party belongs to a defendant. However, under the existing case law at the time of Defendant’s trial the court ruled correctly.

Defendant’s sister posted bail for him. The trial court relied on that payment to determine petitioner had the ability to pay attorney fees. The record did not reflect that the money for bail was a donation and Defendant expressed an intent to pay her back. The trial court plainly erred in assessing Defendant's ability to pay attorney fees, it is incorrect to assume bail posted by a non-spouse third party belongs to a Defendant. However, under the existing case law at the time of Defendant’s trial the court ruled correctly. Defendant did not ask the Court to address the trial court’s decision as plain error. The general policy of preservation of judgments outweighs the interest in correcting the error. Although the Court made this determination, it concluded that it would not be appropriate to correct the error. The eventual outcome is also not clear from the record if the case were to be remanded. Affirmed.