People v. Koulavongsa CA4/1

DISCUSSION

Appellant asks this court to reduce his forgery conviction to a misdemeanor under

Proposition 47. Appellant was convicted and sentenced before the passage of the

proposition. His notice of appeal was filed October 9, 2014, prior to the effective date of

Proposition 47.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.

The issue presented on appeal is a question of law, unaffected by the facts underlying the guilty plea. Thus we will omit the traditional statement of facts. 2 Ordinarily, once a notice of appeal is filed, jurisdiction over the matter is vested in

the appellate court and the trial court thus lacks jurisdiction to deal with the case. (In re

Anna S. (2010) 180 Cal.App.4th 1489, 1499; People v. Perez (1979) 23 Cal.3d 545, 554.)

Appellant seeks the assistance of this court to address his claim that his forgery

conviction should be reduced to a misdemeanor.

Section 1170.18 provides a mechanism for those who were convicted and

sentenced before the enactment of the proposition on November 4, 2014. That remedy is

to petition the superior court to reduce the conviction to a misdemeanor if qualified…