Defendant’s prior juvenile adjudication for sexual battery did not disqualify him from obtaining Proposition 47 relief. Zamora pleaded no contest to felony drug possession (Health & Saf. Code, § 11377, subd. (a)). While on probation, the court denied Zamora’s request to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47, finding Zamora ineligible for Proposition 47 relief based on a prior juvenile adjudication for sexual battery (Pen. Code, § 243.4). Zamora appealed. Held: Reversed. Proposition 47 reduced certain drug felonies to misdemeanors for qualified offenders and provided a procedural mechanism to seek reclassification of felonies to misdemeanors (Pen. Code, § 1170.18). Defendants who have prior convictions for “super strike” crimes (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (e)(2)(C)(iv)) or an offense requiring registration under Penal Code section 290, subdivision (c) are ineligible for misdemeanor treatment. (Pen. Code, § 1170.18, subd. (i).) Both section 1170.18, subdivision (i) and Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a) “refer, in terms of ineligibility for misdemeanor treatment, to prior convictions for specified offenses.” While an adult convicted of sexual battery would be subject to sex registration, this is inapplicable to Zamora because Welfare and Institutions Code section 203 provides that a juvenile adjudication shall not be deemed a conviction for any purpose. But a juvenile adjudication may be a disqualifying prior conviction within the meaning of section 1170.18, subdivision (i) if it is a “super strike” offense. However, sexual battery is not a disqualifying “super strike” prior. Further, Penal Code section 290.008, not section 290, governs the registration requirements of juvenile offenders. Zamora was entitled to Proposition 47 relief.

The full opinion is available on the court’s website here: http://www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/F071737.PDF