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Name: People v. Superior Court (Blanquel)
Case #: G027134
Opinion Date: 12/19/2000
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 3
Citation: 85 Cal.App.4th 768
Summary

The failure to include the predecessor statutes, Vehicle Code sections 23175 and 23175.5, in Vehicle Code section 23550.5, which defines the punishment for drunk driving with a prior drunk driving conviction under 23152, was mere scrivener’s error and does not require a trial court to refrain from treating a prior conviction covered under the predecessor statute as covered by section 23550.5. The appellate court held that the legislative correction of this oversight, which left a 100 day “window,” did not create a “lottery winner” out of those whose offenses fell within that period. The appellate court also rejected ex post facto and due process notice deprivation claims, finding that a prior conviction has long been an aggravating factor under California law. The law was then not altered or changed. Accordingly, a writ of mandate was ordered issued to require the trial court to vacate its ruling sustaining the real party’s demurrer to two counts of the information, and to reinstate the special allegation under section 22350.5.