Hurlic

*53 As a general rule, a criminal defendant who enters a guilty or no contest plea with an agreed-upon sentence may challenge that sentence on appeal only if he or she first obtains a certificate of probable cause from the trial court. ( Pen. Code, § 1237.5, subd. (a) ; 1 People v. Panizzon (1996) 13 Cal.4th 68 , 76, 51 Cal.Rptr.2d 851 , 913 P.2d 1061 ( Panizzon ); People v. Cuevas (2008) 44 Cal.4th 374 , 384, 79 Cal.Rptr.3d 303 , 187 P.3d 30 ( Cuevas ).) Does this general rule apply when the defendant's challenge to the agreed-upon sentence is based on our Legislature's enactment of a statute that retroactively grants a trial court the discretion to waive a sentencing enhancement that was mandatory at the time it was incorporated into the agreed-upon sentence? We conclude that the answer is "no," and hold that a certificate of probable cause is not required in these narrow circumstances. Because we are unable to say that there is "no reasonable possibility" that the trial court would decline to exercise its newfound sentencing discretion, we vacate the judgment and remand for a new sentencing hearing to decide whether to exercise that discretion.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL…