Hodges

Defendant Eddie Allen Hodges appeals a conviction based on his guilty plea to failure to register as a sex offender (Pen. Code, § 290) and his admission of a prior serious felony conviction (§ 1170.12). Although defendant failed to obtain a certificate of probable cause, he nonetheless challenges the propriety of a sentence enhancement for his prior serious felony conviction. He also asserts that his mental incompetence at the time of the plea requires that it be set aside. Correctly anticipating that the lack of a certificate of probable cause imposes a procedural bar, defendant contends that his federal due process and equal protection rights are violated by section 1237.5 and California Rules of Court, rule 8.304(b), which require a certificate before a defendant who pled guilty or no contest may appeal issues other than denial of a motion to suppress evidence or postplea errors that do not attack the validity of the plea.

We conclude that defendant’s failure to obtain a certificate of probable cause bars the appeal based on his first two arguments, and that he demonstrates no constitutional defect in the certificate requirement. As a consequence, we shall dismiss the…