Nickerson

Trial court unification and the resulting elimination of the municipal court was authorized by constitutional amendment in 1998. As with all major overhauls of the law, this one created at least one problem. Here, we unravel that issue.

The original complaint in this case included a felony and two misdemeanors. After the preliminary examination, the trial court, acting as magistrate, held defendant to answer only on the two misdemeanors. After the jury convicted defendant of one of the misdemeanors, defendant filed a notice of appeal in the superior court. Because the clerk of the Shasta County Superior Court erroneously directed the appeal to this court, we transfer this case to the appellate division of the superior court pursuant to Government Code section 68915.

DISCUSSION

A

This Is a Misdemeanor Case

A Court of Appeal has appellate jurisdiction over appealable orders from “felony case[s].” (Pen. Code, § 1235, subd. (a); see Cal. Const., art. VI, §11.) The appellate divisions of the superior courts, by contrast, have appellate jurisdiction over appealable orders from “misdemeanor case[s].” (§ 1466; see Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11.)

Section 691 provides the…