People v. Gendreau CA3

Filed 10/22/15 P. v. Gendreau CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

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

THE PEOPLE, C077923

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Super. Ct. No. CM041561)

v.

JACOB DAVID GENDREAU,

Defendant and Respondent.

The People appeal the trial court’s order reducing defendant Jacob David Gendreau’s felony failure to appear to a misdemeanor under the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47). They contend this reduction was an improper expansion of Proposition 47. We agree and shall reverse.

1

PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The Butte County District Attorney charged defendant with possessing a controlled substance in violation of Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a).1 He was released on his own recognizance. On June 18, 2014, defendant failed to appear on that charge. Defendant later pleaded no contest to the drug possession charge. On September 9, 2014, the district attorney filed an information alleging defendant had failed to appear on a felony charge of possession of a controlled substance. (Pen. Code, § 1320, subd. (b).)2

On November 7, 2014, after the passage of Proposition 47, the trial court reduced both the controlled substance conviction and the failure to appear charge to misdemeanors. Defendant then pleaded no contest to misdemeanor failure to appear. The trial court granted defendant three years of probation. The People filed a timely appeal. (§ 1238, subd. (a)(1), (5) & (6).) Defendant did not file a respondent’s brief.

DISCUSSION

The People contend the trial court’s action was unauthorized, as it improperly expanded the scope of Proposition 47. We agree.