Meyer

Petitioner seeks a writ of mandate to compel the Superior Court of Sacramento County to hear, on the merits, his application under Penal Code section 17, to declare the offense for which he was convicted to be a misdemeanor.

On July 22, 1960, petitioner pleaded guilty to writing checks drawn on insufficient funds in violation of Penal Code section 476a. At that time his conviction was punishable by-imprisonment in the state prison or in the court’s discretion, by imprisonment in the county jail. On August 5, 1960, the Honorable Fred R Pierce, then Judge of the Superior Court of Sacramento County, suspended the pronouncement of judgment and sentence for a period of three years and placed petitioner on probation.

On September 30, 1963, Penal Code section 17 was amended to empower a court which grants probation for an offense punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or by imprisonment in the county jail, without pronouncing judgment and/or without imposing sentence, to at that time or at any time “thereafter” declare the offense to be a misdemeanor. On December 19, 1963, approximately three years after his conviction, petitioner, who had apparently satisfactorily completed…