Hayes

*121 *342 Following a jury trial, defendant Cynthia Louise Hayes was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon ( Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)(1) ), 1 vandalism with damage exceeding $400 (§ 594, subds. (a), (b)(1) ), and misdemeanor battery (§ 242). Before the jury rendered its verdict, defendant admitted five prior prison term allegations. (§ 667.5, subd. (b).) The trial court struck two of the prison priors and sentenced defendant to a seven-year eight-month state prison term.

On appeal, defendant contends she was denied representation at a critical stage of the proceedings, her prison priors should be struck because the felony underlying the most recent prior was reduced to a misdemeanor after her sentencing hearing, and the trial court abused its discretion in denying her motion to continue sentencing. We shall vacate the sentence, remand for resentencing, and otherwise affirm.

BACKGROUND

On September 3, 2014, between 7:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., J.C. was driving to the home of his mother, L.B., when he spotted, in front of a home's garage, items that were taken from his property about a week ago. As J.C. pulled in to talk to the home's owner, defendant came out of the house and…