A defendant who has successfully completed drug treatment probation under Penal Code section 1210.1, et seq. is not entitled to reduction of the offense to a misdemeanor where the offense is a felony and not a “wobbler.” Appellant pled guilty to Health and Safety Code section 11350 and was granted drug treatment probation under the provisions of Penal Code section 1210. After successfully completing probation, he moved to have the offense reduced to a misdemeanor, arguing that since section 1210 provided that if a defendant successfully completed probation he could not be sentenced to prison, the punishment for the offense was not state prison and, therefore, the offense was not a felony. Rejecting the claim, the appellate court observed that unless an alternative punishment is authorized by the target-offense statute, it is a straight felony and the court has no authority to reduce it to a misdemeanor. The court rejected appellants claim regarding the constitutionality of section 1210.1, subdivisions (e)(2) and (3), finding that appellant had not shown how he was denied equal protection.
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