People v. Benevides

Opinion

WISEMAN, J.

In the published portion of this “Three Strikes” case we address whether an appellate court has the authority to review a trial court’s decision to not exercise its Penal Code section 1385 1 discretion to dismiss or strike a prior conviction on its own motion in the interests of justice. As will be discussed, a defendant has no right to make a motion under section 1385, and a trial court is under no obligation to rule on such a “motion” or state reasons for its refusal to consider such a request or “motion.” In many cases, like this one, the trial court refuses to exercise…