Trial courts may not require criminal defendants to pay for their use of a public defender as part of their sentence, the state Superior Court has ruled.
On July 3, a three-judge panel of the court held that a “public defender assessment” did not qualify as either a fine or a rehabilitative measure, and therefore could not be imposed on the defendant in Commonwealth v. Rivera. The majority’s holding overturned a sentence from the Wayne County Court of Common Pleas, which included a $500 public defender assessment against defendant Hector Rivera.
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