Error and/or relief
The juvenile court erred in not declaring whether it found the minor’s wobbler offense (section 29610) to be a misdemeanor or a felony.
First Holding:
An offense under Penal Code section 29610 is a wobbler punishable by imprisonment or jail.
Authority:
In re D.D. (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 824, 829
Second Holding:
Welf. and Inst. Code section 702 requires the juvenile court to declare on the record at a hearing before or at the time of disposition its choice whether to treat an alleged wobbler as a misdemeanor or as a felony. Neither the pleading, the minute order, nor the setting of a felony-level period of confinement may substitute for the required declaration. The juvenile court’s failure to make this declaration as to each wobbler offense is error. A juvenile court’s failure to comply with section 702’s express declaration requirement must be corrected on remand unless the record as a whole establishes that the juvenile court was aware of, and exercised its discretion to determine the felony or misdemeanor nature of a wobbler.
Authority:
WIC 702
In re F.M. (2023) 14 Cal.5th 701, 712
Third Holding:
The oral pronouncement of judgment ordinarily controls when there is a discrepancy between it and the clerical recording of the judgment. Although the minute order reflects that the court declared the offense in count 1 a felony, the reporter’s transcript of the oral pronouncement reflects no such declaration. The latter controls.
Authority:
People v. Serrano (2024) 100 Cal.App.5th 1324, 1340