Couch

Defendant pled no contest to a single count of forgery (Pen. Code, § 470) and admitted an allegation that he had suffered a prior serious felony conviction within the meaning of Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b) to (i) pursuant to a plea bargain under which he agreed to accept a 32-month state prison sentence. Although the court imposed the agreed sentence, defendant filed an appeal asserting that the court “committed sentencing error.” He claims that (1) the court erred in sentencing him under Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b) to (i) because his prior conviction was incurred prior to the enactment of this statute, (2) the court had and failed to exercise discretion to strike the prior conviction allegation, (3) Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b) to (i) was not in effect at the time of his offense because it was improperly enacted as urgency legislation, and (4) Penal Code section 667, subdivisions (b) to (i) violates equal protection because it restricts conduct credits for those sentenced under its provisions. Defendant also filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in which he asserted that his trial counsel was prejudicially ineffective because…