HomeMy WebLinkAboutCP-21-CR-0003636-2014
COMMONWEALTH : IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF
: CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA
:
V. :
:
:
HECTOR VARGAS TORRES : CP-21-CR- 3636-2014
IN RE: MOTION TO SUSPEND COURT COST AND FINES
OPINION AND ORDER OF COURT
Masland, J., September 16, 2020:--
Petitioner, presently incarcerated consequent to conviction of simple assault inter
alia, requests of this court the suspension of costs, fines, and restitution pending his
release from prison. There is nothing of record to suggest that Defendant was ever
subject to any fines or restitution, our sentencing order of August 20, 2015 having
imposed costs only. Nevertheless, as to costs, while the sentencing court must take into
account an obligee’s ability to pay pursuant to Pa.R.Crim.P. 706(c), it is not, contra
Defendant’s assertion, required to conduct a discrete hearing for that purpose. Buck v.
Beard, 879 A.2d 157, 160 (Pa. 2005). In originally imposing sentence, we were, of
course, cognizant of the limited earning potential of incarcerated individuals, but also of
the Commonwealth’s duty, in extremis, to provide even wholly indigent prisoners with
the necessities of life, and so found no impropriety in imposing a financial obligation that
would be satisfied, at least in part, by deduction from Defendant’s prison wages
pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. §9728.
CP-21-CR-3636-2014
ORDER OF COURT
AND NOW, this 16th day of September, 2020, for the reasons set forth herein,
Petitioner’s Motion to Suspend Court Cost and Fines is hereby DENIED.
By the Court,
Albert H. Masland, J.
Department of Corrections
1920 Technology Parkway
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050
Hector Vargas Torres (JT-1711)
SCI Huntingdon
1100 Pike Street
Huntingdon, PA, 16654
-2-