Not Knowing About Additional Mandatory Restitution Fine In a A Plea Agreement

In People v. Walker (1991) 54 Cal.3d 1013, the defendant had negotiated a plea agreement in which one of two felony charges was to be dismissed and the defendant was to plead guilty to the other charge and receive a five-year sentence and no penalty fine. He was not advised of an additional mandatory restitution fine of at least $ 100 but no more than $ 10,000. Nor was he advised of his right to withdraw his plea under section 1192.5. Although the probation report recommended a $ 7,000 restitution fine, the court imposed a fine of $ 5,000. the defendant did not object to the imposition of the fine at sentencing. The court held: (1) the imposition of the $ 5,000 restitution fine "was a significant deviation from the negotiated terms of the plea bargain" and therefore violated the plea bargain; (2) because the section 1192.5 advisement was not given, the error was not waived by the defendant's failure to object; (3) the error was not subject to harmless error analysis. (Walker, supra, 54 Cal.3d at pp. 1029-1030.) The court reduced the fine to the statutory minimum, an amount that was not a significant deviation from the plea agreement. (Id. at p. 1030.)