People v. Anthony CA3

BACKGROUND

We omit the facts of defendant’s crimes as they are unnecessary to resolve this appeal. On November 2, 1993, defendant pleaded guilty to second degree robbery (§ 211) in case No. 93-4813. He was sentenced to serve a five-year state prison term. On October 2, 1997, defendant pleaded guilty to second degree robbery and admitted two strike allegations (§§ 667, subds. (b)-(d), 1170.12) in case No. 93-3057. He was sentenced to serve 25 years to life. Defendant subsequently filed section 1170.18 petitions in both cases, both of which the trial court denied without a hearing.

DISCUSSION

Whether the protections afforded by Wende and the United States Supreme Court decision in Anders v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 738 [18 L.Ed.2d 493] apply to an appeal from an order denying a petition brought pursuant to section 1170.18 remains an open question. Our Supreme Court has not spoken. The Anders/Wende procedures address appointed counsel’s representation of an indigent criminal defendant in the first appeal as a matter of right and courts have been loath to expand their application to other proceedings or appeals. (See Pennsylvania v. Finley (1987) 481 U.S. 551 [95 L.Ed.2d 539];…