People v. Morrison

Opinion

STANIFORTH, J.

In 1978, Jan Morrison was charged with assaulting a police officer with a deadly weapon. (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (b).)

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The

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trial court found her not guilty by reason of insanity. On September 18, 1983, Morrison filed a motion to vacate the verdict and to have the court release her from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the criminal charges under section 1203.4. The trial court denied the motion, ruling it lacked jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. Morrison has appealed from the order denying her motion. We affirm.

Section 1203.4, subdivision (a), states, in pertinent part: “In any case in which a defendant has fulfilled the conditions of probation for the entire period of probation, or has been discharged prior to the termination of the period of probation,

or in any other case in which a court, in its discretion and the interests of justice, determines that a defendant should be granted the relief available under this section,

the defendant shall, at any time after the termination of the period of probation, if he is not then serving a sentence for any offense, on probation for any offense, or charged with the commission of any offense, be permitted by the court to withdraw his plea of guilty or plea of nolo contendere and enter a plea of not guilty; or, if he has been convicted after a plea of not guilty, the court shall set aside the verdict of guilty; and, in either case, the court shall thereupon dismiss the accusations or information against the defendant and except as noted below,

he shall thereafter be released from all penalties and disabilities resulting from the offense of which he has been convicted

. . . .” (Italics added.)

Morrison’s application for relief was premised on the assertion section 1203.4 gives the trial court discretion to vacate a judgment of conviction and to release a defendant from all resulting penalties and disabilities in criminal cases where no probation was granted. She argues the “interests of justice” language should be read to encompass a defendant found not guilty by reason of insanity. Thus, Morrison contends the trial court had the power to grant her relief from public disclosure of arrest information even though she had not been placed on probation. We are not persuaded.