Camarillo

We hold that when a court acts under Penal Code section 17 to specify that a conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol shall be treated as a misdemeanor “for all purposes,” that offense may not afterwards be pled as a prior felony conviction under the terms of former Vehicle Code section 23175.5, now Vehicle Code section 23550.5 (Stats. 1998, ch. 118, § 84), even though the offense may have been originally punished as a felony. We therefore must reverse appellant’s present felony conviction and remand for the entry of a misdemeanor conviction of Vehicle Code section 23152.

I. Facts and Procedural History

The relevant facts are not disputed, and may be briefly stated.

Appellant Gonzalo Cachola Camarillo was convicted in May 1991 of the crime of driving a motor vehicle while having blood-alcohol of .08 percent or higher and causing injury, in violation of Vehicle Code section 23153, subdivision (b). 1 The court suspended the imposition of sentence and placed appellant on probation for a period of five years. Among other terms of his probation, appellant was ordered to serve 364 days in jail and obey all laws.

In 1994, after appellant had successfully…