Proposition 47 petition to strike a prior prison term must be filed in the court where the underlying conviction occurred, not in the court that imposed the prior prison term as an enhancement. In 2012, Marks pleaded guilty to spousal battery and misdemeanor criminal threats. He admitted six prior prison term enhancements, three of which were based on convictions for violating Health and Safety Code section 11350, subdivision (a). Initially granted probation, Marks was sentenced to state prison when probation was revoked. In December 2014 he filed a Proposition 47 petition, arguing his section 11350 convictions should be reduced to misdemeanors. The trial court denied the petition because Marks’ current conviction is not a qualifying felony. He appealed. Held: Affirmed. Proposition 47 reduced certain drug and theft offenses to misdemeanors for qualified defendants. It added Penal Code section 1170.18, which creates a procedure for qualified defendants serving a felony sentence on an enumerated offense to petition for resentencing. A person who has completed his sentence for a conviction may petition the court that entered the judgment in his case to have the felony declared a misdemeanor (Pen. Code, § 1170.18, subd. (f)). Here, Marks’ petition bore only the case number for the current case; it did not identify the case numbers for the convictions underlying the prior prison term enhancements. Proposition 47 provides no mechanism for reclassification of prior offenses as misdemeanors via a petition in the current case. Marks must file his petition before the court that entered the judgment of conviction for the prior section 11350 offenses.
Case Summaries