Varner

On November 4, 2014, the voters approved Proposition 47, The Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47). Proposition 47 reduced certain nonserious, nonviolent felonies to misdemeanors. Proposition 47 allows a person convicted of a felony prior to its passage, who would have been guilty of a misdemeanor under Proposition 47, to petition the court to reduce his or her felony to a misdemeanor and be resentenced.

On July 28, 2014, prior to the passage of Proposition 47, defendant and appellant James Rubin Varner entered a guilty plea to a felony violation of receiving stolen property, specifically a 1986 Yamaha M300 motorcycle, within the meaning of Penal Code section 496d, subdivision (a). Defendant filed a petition to recall his sentence (Petition) stating that his felony conviction should be reduced to a misdemeanor. The trial court denied his Petition on the grounds that his conviction was not eligible for resentencing under Proposition 47.

Defendant now claims on appeal the trial court erred by finding a violation of section 496d does not qualify for resentencing under Proposition 47 because (1) Proposition 47 redefines all theft-related offenses with the…