Q: Alford plea on disorderly conduct with additional fees??
I talked to an city attorney in MN about a charge, where I was in the psych unit being restraint and getting a haldol injection in me, so I spit in this girls hair, and I wasn't from the area, and they charged me with an misdemeanor disorderly conduct. It turned into an outstanding warrant. I paid 500 bail, as I can not get to where the court is, and on the phone they made a plea deal of a 300 dollar fine a 1 year probation, I only accepted that deal because if I plead not guilty (which I am) I would have to find a way to get to that area, so he says i'll be getting 200 dollars back. So a couple weeks pass and I get papers saying 300 + $85 "in fees and surcharges", is that legal???
I still have to sign this alford plea but I do not know if the "additional fee and surcharge" is legal or not, when it was never mention in phone conversation.
A: In Minnesota criminal fines are set at a given dollar amount level, and then a legislative surcharge is added by the court automatically due to a Minnesota Statute. The judge can waive it. A prosecutor can make a plea agreement with a defendant where the legislative surcharge is waived. Then a judge could accept or not accept the plea agreement. (Normally judges do accept them.) At this point you could call the City Attorney and ask him to fix it. Alternatively, you could make a motion to withdraw your guilty plea and start over from square one.
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