People v. Hahn

Defendant pleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and was initially placed on deferred entry of judgment for 24 months. Six years and 22 appearances later, the trial court terminated defendant's probation and ordered him to serve 120 days in jail. After defendant failed to appear, and following his arrest, the trial court then determined that it lacked jurisdiction to order defendant to serve the sentence. The Court of Appeal reversed and remanded to the trial court with directions to reinstate and execute the 120-day jail sentence. The court held that the termination of probation did not affect the trial court's power to enforce its lawful orders. In this case, the sentence was not imposed as a term of probation, and the trial court was not asked to adjudge him to be in violation of probation or to create or modify a probation term. The trial court was only asked to enforce a prior lawful sentencing order. Furthermore, defendant waived the right to object to the trial court's enforcement of the 120-day jail term given that he requested that the sentence be stayed and then failed to appear as scheduled. View "People v. Hahn" on Justia Law