People v. Balboa CA1/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Because the facts underlying defendant’s conviction are irrelevant to the issues on appeal, we do not discuss them. The People filed an information charging defendant with two felony counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child (§ 288, subd. (a)) in September 2017. Defendant later pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of lewd conduct in public (§ 647, subd. (a)). The remaining charges were dismissed as part of a negotiated disposition. In June 2018, the superior court suspended imposition of sentence and granted defendant informal probation for a term of three years, with various terms and conditions. On November 23, 2020, defendant moved the superior court to terminate his probation early and dismiss his conviction under section 1203.4. The prosecution opposed the request, arguing that no changed circumstance had arisen since the time of the plea to justify the requested relief. The court denied the motion. Effective January 1, 2021, Assembly Bill 1950 amended section 1203a to limit misdemeanor probation to a maximum term of one year, with exceptions that are not at issue here. (§ 1203a, subd. (b).) On March 3, 2021, the superior…