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STATE of Oregon, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Bryan Michael WHITE, Defendant-Appellant.
Defendant pleaded guilty in the first of these consolidated cases to unauthorized departure, ORS 162.175, and was sentenced to a jail term and ordered to pay $400 in attorney fees and a $100 fine. He pleaded guilty in the second case to possession of methamphetamine, ORS 475.894, and was sentenced to a jail term and ordered to pay $650 in attorney fees and a $200 fine. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred in imposing the attorney fees and fines in both cases, because the trial court failed to consider his ability to pay those fines, and nothing in the record indicates that he has the ability to pay. The state acknowledges that nothing in the record would support a conclusion that defendant has the ability to pay but concedes the error only as to the attorney fees. See generally State v. Coverstone, 260 Or. App. 714, 715-16, 320 P.3d 670 (2014) (where the record is silent as to a defendant’s ability to pay, it was plain error to impose attorney fees). The state also is correct that our case law precludes treating the imposition of the fines in this circumstance as plain error. See State v. Shepherd, 302 Or. App. 118, 459 P.3d 957 (2020). For the reasons stated in State v. Harris, 293 Or. App. 110, 111, 426 P.3d 252 (2018), we exercise our discretion to correct the erroneous attorney fees
Portion of judgments requiring defendant to pay attorney fees reversed; otherwise affirmed.
PER CURIAM
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Docket No: A169094 (Control)
Decided: March 18, 2020
Court: Court of Appeals of Oregon.
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