People v. Son CA3

BACKGROUND

In June 2015, defendant entered into a written agreement to plead guilty to three felony charges and admit certain sentence enhancement allegations to resolve three separate cases. In exchange for his pleas and admissions, the People agreed to dismiss the remaining charges. In accordance with the plea agreement, the case was to be referred to the adult felon drug court (drug court) for consideration of defendant’s eligibility for a substance abuse program. Under the terms of the plea agreement, defendant would be sentenced to prison for nine years four months, unless he was accepted into the drug court program. If he was accepted into the drug court program, the nine-year four-month-sentence would be suspended and defendant would be placed on probation.1 After confirming with the parties that this was the agreement and before accepting defendant’s guilty pleas, the trial court asked defendant whether he understood that, “[W]hether or not you get drug court is solely up to the Judge.” Defendant responded in the affirmative. However, neither the prosecutor nor defense counsel confirmed this was an element of the parties’ agreement.2 Prior to the sentencing hearing, a…