Mendez

In the words of the inimitable Yogi Berra, "'It’s déjá vu all over again.'" 1 (Araiza et al., The Jurisprudence of Yogi Berra, supra, 46 Emory L.J. at p. 714.) Thousands upon thousands of more words, and still no closer to a workable standard. (See People v. Lloyd (1998) 17 Cal.4th 658, 667 [ 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 224 , 951 P.2d 1191 ] (dis. opn. of Brown, J.) [chronicling 15 previous attempts by this court to articulate the scope of the certificate of probable cause requirement].) Our jurisprudence “gives fresh meaning to the phrase, ‘[We’re] from the government and [we’re] here to help you.’ ” (U.S. v. Gomez (9th Cir. 1996) 92 F.3d 770, 772 .) It is as if we were trying to render the certificate of probable cause requirement, which is designed “to promote judicial economy” (People v. Panizzon (1996) 13 Cal.4th 68, 75 [ 51 Cal.Rptr.2d 851 , 913 P.2d 1061 ]), as incomprehensible, cumbersome, and inefficient as possible. For the reasons stated in my dissenting opinion in People v. Lloyd, supra, 17 Cal.4th at pages 667-669,1 concur in the result reached here.

Some have questioned the attribution of this statement. (See, e.g., Keyes, “Nice Guys Finish Seventh”—False Phrases, Spurious…

A defendant who has pleaded guilty or nolo contendere to a charge in the superior court, and who seeks to take an appeal from a judgment of conviction entered thereon, may not obtain review of so-called “certificate” issues, that is, questions going to the legality of the proceedings, including the validity of his plea, unless he has complied with section 1237.5 of the Penal Code 1 and the first paragraph of rule 31(d) of the California Rules of Court 2 —which require him to file in the superior court a statement of certificate grounds as an intended notice of appeal within 60 days after rendition of judgment, and to obtain from the superior court a certificate of probable cause for the appeal within 20 days after filing of the statement and, hence, within a maximum of 80 days after rendition of judgment.

Such a defendant may obtain review solely of so-called “noncertificate” issues, that is, postplea questions not challenging his plea’s validity and/or questions involving a search or seizure whose lawfulness was contested pursuant to section 1538.5, if he has complied with the second paragraph of rule 31(d) 3 —which requires him to file in the superior court a notice of…