People v. Stake CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant and appellant Samuel Stake appeals from the trial court’s summary 1 denial of his Penal Code section 1203.4 petition for expungement of his two convictions

for possession of concentrated cannabis (Health &. Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (a)) and 2 oral copulation with a person under the age of 18 years (§ 288a, subd. (b)(1) ). On

appeal, defendant contends (1) advancing the date of the hearing without notice to the

parties denied him due process; (2) the trial court should have considered the convictions

separately before denying the petition; and (3) he is entitled to relief under section 1203.

as a matter of right. Because the record does not demonstrate that the trial court

considered the merits of defendant’s petition and exercised its discretion, we remand this

matter.

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

In March 2014, defendant, who was 19 years old at the time, and the victim, who

was almost 17 years old, had been dating for about four years. The victim admitted to

law enforcement that she willingly performed oral sex on defendant and that she filmed

1 All future statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise stated. 2…