People v. Penny CA6

I. INTRODUCTION

In January 2018, defendant Michelle Louise Penny was charged with attempted possession of a firearm by a felon (Pen. Code, § 664, 29800, subd. (a)(1))1 and perjury (§ 118). In June 2018, the trial court found defendant incompetent to stand trial. Defendant’s competence was restored in January 2019, and she subsequently pleaded no contest to the charges. The court placed defendant on three years of probation and ordered her to serve 90 days in county jail, which was credit for time served. Defendant contends that insufficient evidence supports the trial court’s incompetency finding. The Attorney General counters that the issue is moot and that even if the issue is justiciable, substantial evidence supports the finding.

All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. For reasons that we will explain, we conclude that the issue is moot and therefore dismiss the appeal.

II. PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On January 16, 2018, the district attorney charged defendant with attempted possession of a firearm by a felon (§§ 664, 29800, subd. (a)(1)) and perjury (§ 118). Defendant was arraigned on March 5, 2018. At the next court appearance on April 2, 2018,…