People v. Alonzo CA2/4

DISCUSSION

We asked the parties to submit supplemental briefing whether the appeal should be dismissed by the trial court for lack of jurisdiction to rule on defendant’s Proposition 47 petition while the appeal in Alonzo I was pending. We vacated submission of the case to allow defendant additional time to brief that issue. As the court held in People v. Scarbrough (2015) 240 Cal.App.4th 916, 922 (Scarbrough), Proposition 47 does not create an exception to the general rule that a trial court may not issue an order affecting a judgment while an appeal is pending. The purpose of this rule is to protect the jurisdiction of the appellate court by preserving the status quo “so that an appeal is not rendered futile by alteration.” (Id. at p. 923.) Nothing in Proposition 47 suggests the voters intended that relief under that initiative be sought or granted immediately; rather, the measure provides for three years, or longer on a showing of good cause, to petition for such relief. (Id. at p. 928; see § 1170.18, subd. (j).) A mere delay in obtaining relief under Proposition 47 does not frustrate the voters’ general intent because the potential for judicial economy remains. (Scarbrough, at…