People v. Burrows

Filed 5/28/14 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Glenn) ----

THE PEOPLE, C073271

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. 10SCR06729)

v.

NATALIE ANN BURROWS,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Glenn County, Donald C. Byrd, Judge. Reversed with directions.

Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Catherine Chatman and Jeffrey Grant, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Appellant.

Law Office of Peggy A. Headley and Peggy A. Headley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Respondent.

1

In August 2010, defendant Natalie Ann Burrows was charged with two felony offenses -- driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)),1 driving with a blood-alcohol level at or exceeding 0.08 percent (§ 23152, subd. (b)) -- and the misdemeanor offense of driving with a suspended license (§ 14601.2, subd. (a)). The People further alleged defendant had three prior convictions for driving under the influence. (§§ 23550, 23550.5.) In January 2011, defendant pleaded no contest to driving with a blood-alcohol level at or exceeding 0.08 percent and admitted the prior convictions. Defendant also admitted to violating her probation in Glenn County Superior Court case No. 09SCR05831. The remaining charges were dismissed in exchange for her plea, along with the probation in case No. 09SCR05831. In March 2011, the trial court suspended imposition of sentence and placed defendant on three years of formal probation. Among the terms and conditions of probation, defendant was required to complete Glenn County’s felony drug court program. On December 5, 2012, defendant appeared in the trial court for her “drug court graduation.” Defendant, her counsel, and probation were present at the graduation; the People were not represented. At the graduation hearing, defendant’s counsel made an oral motion to reduce the felony charges to misdemeanors and dismiss them.2 The trial court granted counsel’s motion. On December 27, 2012, the trial court issued a written order reducing the felony charges to misdemeanors, dismissed the charges, and dismissed defendant from probation in the interests of justice.