Soriano

In this case we hold that since a trial court’s acceptance of a negotiated plea which patently includes a legally impossible admission constitutes an act in excess of its jurisdiction, the validity of such a plea is an issue cognizable on appeal if the procedural requirements of Penal Code section 1237.5 are met.

Teodor Canias Soriano appeals from a judgment of conviction for offering a forged instrument for record, claiming his plea of nolo contendere was fatally defective.

An information charged Soriano with violating Penal Code section 115 in that he attempted to file a “forged instrument, to wit, a death certificate.” In exchange for a plea of nolo contendere, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Soriano on three years’ probation.

The parties agree that Soriano’s guilty plea was defective because a death certificate is not an “instrument” within the meaning of Penal Code section 115, i.e., a writing which transfers title to or creates a lien on real property, or gives a right to a debt or duty (Generes v. Justice Court (1980) 106 Cal.App.3d 678, 682-684 [ 165 Cal.Rptr. 222 ]). Soriano maintains he should have been charged with and would have…