California Penal Code Section 1202.45 Interpretation

In People v. Brasure (2008) 42 Cal.4th 1037, the California high court interpreted Penal Code section 1202.45 as applying to defendants sentenced to any term that includes the possibility of parole. The court distinguished People v. Oganesyan (1999) 70 Cal.App.4th 1178, "as involving no determinate term of imprisonment imposed under section 1170, but rather a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for first degree special circumstance murder and an indeterminate life sentence for second degree murder." (Brasure, supra, 42 Cal.4th at p. 1075.) Though the defendant in Brasure was sentenced to death, he was also sentenced to determinate terms ( 1170) which, by law, the court reasoned, included the possibility of parole and a suspended parole revocation fine ( 3000, subd. (a)(1), 1202.45; Brasure, supra, at p. 1075).