In Re Chavez

When a defendant has pleaded guilty or no contest (nolo contendere) to a criminal charge, the defendant may not appeal the judgment of conviction on issues “going to the legality of the proceedings” unless, within 60 days of rendition of the judgment, he or she files with the trial court a written statement executed under oath or penalty of perjury showing reasonable constitutional, jurisdictional, or other grounds for appeal and, within 20 days after that filing, the trial court executes and files a certificate of probable cause for appeal. (Pen. Code, § 1237.5; Cal. Rules of Court, rule 31(d).) The issue in this case is whether relief from default is available when a defendant fails to timely file the statement of reasonable grounds for appeal required in order to obtain a certificate of probable cause.

In the Court of Appeal, defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, alleging that his statement of reasonable grounds for appeal should be deemed timely filed under the common law doctrine recognizing the “constructive filing” of an appeal. Instead, the Court of Appeal applied rule 45(e) to relieve defendant from the default occasioned by his failure to timely…