People v. Dent

Opinion

MASTERSON, J.

Defendant Daniel Dent entered pleas of no contest to two “wobbler” offenses which the trial court found to be misdemeanors under Penal Code section 17, subdivision (b)(1). The People appeal from the ensuing judgment, contending that the “three strikes law” 2 abrogated the trial court’s discretion to declare wobbler offenses to be misdemeanors, and alternatively that the trial court abused its discretion in imposing a misdemeanor sentence on defendant. We follow the lead of three recent Court of Appeal decisions in holding that the three strikes law did not affect the trial…