People v. Gonzalez CA2/4

Filed 3/29/16 P. v. Gonzalez CA2/4 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

THE PEOPLE, B266516 (Los Angeles County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. VA139815-01)

v.

SAMANTHA GONZALEZ

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Peter Paul Espinoza, Judge. Reversed and remanded with directions. John L. Staley, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Mary Sanchez and Michael C. Keller, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

After appellant Samantha Gonzalez was charged with grand theft relating to access card account information (Pen. Code, § 484e, subd. (d)), she sought to have the offense reclassified as a misdemeanor under Penal Code section 1170.18, a provision enacted pursuant to Proposition 47.1 When the trial court declined to reclassify the offense, she pleaded nolo contendere to the charge pursuant to a plea agreement. She contends the court erred in denying her reclassification petition. We agree, and thus reverse the judgment and remand for further proceedings.

RELEVANT FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The limited record before us discloses the following facts: In August 2015, while appellant was driving in Whittier, police officers stopped her car because the vehicle registration had expired. Appellant told the officers she was on probation for fraud, and had borrowed her cousin’s credit card. Inside appellant’s purse, the officers found a debit card bearing the name “David Salgado.”2 On August 11, 2015, a felony complaint was filed charging appellant with one count of grand theft (§ 484e, subd. (d)). The complaint alleged that appellant had “acquired and retained possession of access card account information with respect to an access card validly issued to another person, without the cardholder’s and issuer’s consent, with intent to use it fraudulently.” After the trial court denied her petition under section 1170.18 to reclassify the offense as a misdemeanor, she pleaded nolo contendere to the offense as charged pursuant to a plea agreement. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, the trial court sentenced her to a total term of 16 months, imposing eight months in county jail and eight months of