People v. Superior Court of San Bernardino County

Real party in interest Thomas Robert Ward (hereinafter defendant or Ward) was convicted of being a felon/addict in possession of a firearm (Pen. Code, § 29800, subd. (a)) in February 2012 and was sentenced to two years in state prison. As a nonviolent offender, following his release from prison on January 10, 2013, he was placed under “community supervision” rather than parole. (§ 3451.)

Pursuant to section 3456, subdivision (a)(1), the period of postrelease community service cannot exceed three years. However, if the offender has been on postrelease supervision for a continuous year “with no violations of his or her conditions of postrelease supervision that result in a custodial sanction shall be discharged from supervision within 30 days.” (§ 3456, subd. (a)(3), italics added.)

Defendant’s performance under community supervision was far from ideal. On March 18, 2014, the probation officer responsible for Ward obtained a summary order revoking supervision and ordering that a hearing be held on numerous allegations that he had violated the conditions of his community supervision. Most serious were allegations that he was frequently intoxicated and also drove while…