In re F.M.

Opinion of the Court by Liu, J.

Some crimes, known as wobbler offenses, are punishable either as misdemeanors or as felonies at the discretion of the sentencing court. Welfare and Institutions Code section 702 provides that when a minor is found to have committed a wobbler offense, “the court shall declare the offense to be a misdemeanor or a felony.” (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 702; all undesignated statutory references are to this code.) We explained in In re Manzy W. (1997) 14 Cal.4th 1199 (Manzy W.) that this “mandatory express declaration” requirement exists partly to “ensur[e] that the juvenile court is aware of, and actually exercises, its discretion” as to whether a juvenile’s wobbler offense should be adjudicated as a misdemeanor or felony. (Id. at pp. 1204, 1207.) We later elaborated that the express declaration contemplated by section 702 must be made at a hearing “before or at the time of disposition.” (In re G.C. (2020) 8 Cal.5th 1119, 1126 (G.C.).) A juvenile court’s choice to classify a wobbler as a misdemeanor or felony can have significant implications for the juvenile. If an offense is treated as a felony, it may constitute a serious or violent felony for purposes of…