People v. Sosa CA5, F066824

Defendant Jimmy William Sosa pleaded no contest to one count of lewd act on a child under 14 (Pen. Code § 288(a)) and misdemeanor possession of a firearm with altered identification.
The charged lewd act was alleged to have occurred between April 14, 2004 and April 13, 2007; preliminary hearing evidence narrowed the likely date to between April 14, 2004 and April 13, 2006.
Trial court sentenced Sosa to the midterm of six years on the felony count and six months concurrent on the misdemeanor, and imposed multiple fines, fees, penalty assessments, and DNA assessments.
The People conceded error that some fines/assessments were imposed using statutory amounts or new assessments that postdated the offense timeframe, raising ex post facto concerns.
The parties agreed, and the court held, that certain larger or later-enacted assessments must be reduced or stricken because the prosecution did not prove the offense occurred on or after the statutes’ effective dates.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether statutory fines/assessments enacted or increased after the offense date may be imposed	That the higher/new assessments are proper at sentencing	That imposing amounts effective after the offense violates the Ex Post Facto Clause	Court: Ex post facto prohibits applying later-enacted increases; reduce assessments to amounts effective when offense could have occurred
Whether DNA penalty assessments enacted after the offense may be imposed	That DNA assessments should remain	That DNA assessments (effective Nov. 3, 2004) cannot be applied because offense may predate them	Court: Strike the DNA assessments because People did not prove offense occurred on/after operative date

People v. Hiscox, 136 Cal.App.4th 253 (discusses impermissible retroactive application of harsher sentencing provisions)
People v. McCullough, 56 Cal.4th 589 (unauthorized ex post facto sentence review not forfeited on appeal)
People v. Valenzuela, 172 Cal.App.4th 1246 (reducing various penalty assessments to amounts applicable when offense occurred)
People v. Batman, 159 Cal.App.4th 587 (striking DNA penalty assessments as impermissibly retroactive)