Jones

William Earl Jones (appellant) appeals from an order denying his application for a certificate of rehabilitation pursuant to Penal Code section 4852.01.

The sole issue before us is whether section 4852.01 denies equal protection of the law to former probationer felons because subsequent incarceration renders them ineligible for a certificate of rehabilitation under the statute but does not similarly render ineligible former state-prisoner felons. We conclude that section 4852.01, as part of a broader statutory scheme to provide relief from criminal penalties and disabilities to all ex-felons, does not violate the constitutional requirement of equal protection of the law because: (1) the Legislature has drawn a proper distinction between two categories of ex-felons who are not similarly situated by virtue of separate and distinct statutory provisions for relief available to former probationers exclusively, pursuant to section 1203.4; and (2) a rational relationship exists between the differing statutory criteria of eligibility for a certificate of rehabilitation applicable to former probationers and former state prisoners, pursuant to section 4852.01, and the state’s…