shall grant the requested relief.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
Defendants were charged with numerous sex offenses arising
from their molestation of two children. Defendants committed
the crimes by, among other things, forcing the victims to pick a
card from a deck of sexually explicit drawings and then perform
the act as depicted in the drawing.
Kunitz was charged with 15 counts and Lopez with 13 counts
of forcibly committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child.
(§ 288(b)(1).) The defendants were also charged with two counts
each of oral copulation with a child under the age of 14 by a
defendant who is 10 years older (§ 288a, subd. (c)(1)); four
counts each of aggravated sexual assault of a child (§ 269,
subd. (a)(4), (5)); and two counts each of sexual penetration of
a child under the age of 14 by a defendant who is at least
10 years older (§ 289, subd. (j)). Kunitz was additionally
charged with one count of aggravated sexual assault by means of
rape (§ 269, subd. (a)(1)), while Lopez was charged with five
1 Further undesignated section references are to the Penal Code.
-3-
separate counts of committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a
child (§ 288, subd. (a)(1)).
Pursuant to a plea bargain, both defendants pleaded guilty
to four counts of forcibly committing a lewd or lascivious act
upon a child. (§ 288(b)(1).) At sentencing, the trial court
imposed a restitution fine of $6,400 and a parole revocation
fine in the same amount, to be payable jointly and severally by
both defendants. Each defendant was sentenced to 32 years in
prison.
DISCUSSION
Defendants contend that imposition of joint and several
restitution fines is unauthorized. This contention has merit.
Neither section 1202.4, subdivision (b) (section 1202.4(b))
nor section 1202.45 expressly provides for imposition of a
restitution fine payable jointly and severally among two or
more defendants, and we decline to infer such an intent from
the statutory language.
Section 1202.4(b) requires the court to impose a
restitution fine “
n every case where a person is convicted of
a crime,” in the absence of compelling or extraordinary reasons
for not imposing the fine. (Italics added.) Subdivision (1) of
section 1202.4(b) provides that “[t]he restitution fine shall be
set at the discretion of the court and commensurate with the
seriousness of the offense, but shall not be less than two
hundred dollars ($200), and not more than ten thousand dollars
($10,000), if the person is convicted of a felony . . . .”
(Italics added.) Subdivision (2) of section 1202.4(b) provides