Mosley

Dimitric Rene Mosley appeals from a judgment rendered on April 9, 1987, revoking probation and imposing a six-year prison sentence for violating a condition of his probation which required him to abstain from consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Mosley contends he was denied procedural and substantive due process in that (1) he was not afforded adequate notice of the grounds for revoking probation nor a written statement of the reasons for the violation, and (2) imposition of a six-year prison sentence for violation of an abstinence condition of probation was a fundamentally unfair abuse of discretion. In addition, he claims ineffective assistance of trial counsel for his failure to object to the lack of written notice. By an accompanying writ, Mosley argues that the court’s action was a nullity and demands immediate release given that his probation term has expired in the interim.

Background

Mosley was originally placed on probation on May 10, 1984, following his conviction for rape of an unconscious person (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. (4)). The court imposed the middle term of six years which it ordered suspended. On May 2, 1985, Mosley’s probation was revoked following a…