P.

DISCUSSION

A number of appellate courts have addressed the issue presented in this case, resulting in a split in authority. In People v. Clytus (2012) 209 Cal.App.4th 1001 (Clytus), the defendant was convicted of identity theft and unlawfully taking a vehicle. (Id. at p. 1004.) The trial court imposed a state prison sentence of three years eight months but suspended execution of sentence and placed the defendant on probation. After the effective date of the Realignment Act, the defendant admitted violating probation. The trial court declined to reinstate probation and ordered the suspended sentence served in state prison. (Ibid.) The defendant appealed, arguing that he was qualified for county jail under the Realignment Act. (Clytus, supra, 209 Cal.App.4th at p. 1006.) The Court of Appeal agreed, concluding that “a trial court executing a suspended sentence as punishment for a probation violation on and after October 1, 2011, has no discretion to send to prison a

3 The People also contend defendant was not denied equal protection. Defendant does not dispute or oppose that argument and hence we do not address it.

3 defendant whose criminal record and current felony convictions…