After the denial of a petition for certificate of rehabilitation, the new period of rehabilitation starts from the date of the petition’s denial. Defendant was required to register as a sex offender as a result of his conviction. He later filed a certificate of rehabilitation which would allow him to get a pardon and thus relieve him of his sex offender registration obligation. The trial court denied the request and ruled appellant could not file another certificate request for five years. Defendant appealed, alleging the court miscalculated the waiting period. In this case of first impression, the Court of Appeal affirmed. The trial courts calculation was a reasonable interpretation of Penal Code section 4852.11, which gives the court discretion to set the new period of rehabilitation so long as it does not exceed the original period of rehabilitation for the same crime. Defendants interpretation that the period begins from the date the crime occurred would lead to absurd results and frustrate the Legislatures intent to make it more onerous on defendants to obtain certificates of rehabilitation.
Case Summaries