People v. Wright CA3

DISCUSSION

The trial court reduced defendant’s felony conviction for transportation of methamphetamine to a misdemeanor pursuant to Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b)(3).1 Section 17 provides in pertinent part: “(b) When a crime is punishable, in the discretion of the court, either by imprisonment in the state prison or imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by fine or imprisonment in the county jail, it is a misdemeanor for all purposes under the following circumstances: [¶] . . . [¶] (3) When the court grants probation to a defendant without imposition of sentence and at the time of granting probation, or on application of the defendant or probation officer thereafter, the court declares the offense to be a misdemeanor.”

Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 In order to qualify for reduction to a misdemeanor, the offense in question must be a “wobbler,” a crime punishable either as a misdemeanor or felony. Offenses only punishable as felonies cannot be declared a misdemeanor pursuant to section 17. (People v. Prothero (1997) 57 Cal.App.4th 126, 134.) “A felony is a crime that is punishable with…