Filed 6/30/17 Velez v. Superior Court CA1/3
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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE


CONRAD VELEZ,
Petitioner,
v.
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF LAKE COUNTY,
Respondent;
THE PEOPLE,
Real Party in Interest.



A150576

(Lake County
Super. Ct. No. CR93461A)


Petitioner Conrad Velez was sentenced to consecutive indeterminate sentences of 25 years to life in prison following his no contest plea to two counts of murder. The trial court denied his request for a certificate of probable cause. Velez filed a petition for a writ of mandate in this court seeking an order directing the superior court to issue the certificate. He also appealed the judgment, and the record of the proceedings and opening brief have been filed. Where necessary, we have reviewed the record in Velez’s appeal for facts material to the disposition of this petition for mandate.
We requested opposition and notified the parties pursuant to Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171, 180 that, if warranted in the circumstances, we would issue a peremptory writ in the first instance. We do so.
DISCUSSION
Velez was charged, along with his girlfriend and son, in an 11-count information with charges related to two Lake County homicides that occurred in January 2014. Among other crimes, Velez was charged with two counts of special circumstances murder, thus making the offenses eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole. After the preliminary hearing, Velez entered a no contest plea to two counts of murder, and the remaining charges and special allegations were dismissed.
In accord with the plea agreement, Velez was sentenced to two consecutive 25-year to life sentences. But nothing in the record of the plea proceedings makes it explicitly clear whether Velez knowingly entered pleas to first-degree murder. He alleged the possible ambiguity of the degree of the murder convictions as a basis for granting a certificate of probable cause, arguing that there was no sufficient basis in the record for the trial court to have determined him guilty of first degree murder. The trial court denied his request.
The propriety of a trial court’s refusal to issue a certificate of probable cause is reviewable by a petition for writ of mandate. (People v. Holland (1978) 23 Cal.3d 77, 84, fn. 6.) If the defendant presents any cognizable issue that is not clearly frivolous and vexatious in an application, the trial court abuses its discretion if it fails to issue a certificate of probable cause. (Id. at p. 84.) The trial court does not review an application for a certificate to determine if there was error in its proceedings. Rather, its sole objective is to eliminate issues that have no possible legal basis. (Ibid.)
The record of the proceedings in this case is not so clear that it compels the conclusion that Velez’s argument regarding the failure of the court to legally fix the degree of murder has no possible legal basis. Accordingly, the trial court should have issued a certificate of probable cause.
DISPOSITION
The petition for a writ of mandate is granted. The Lake County Superior Court is directed to issue a certificate of probable cause in People v. Conrad Velez, case number CR-934612-A.


_________________________
Siggins, J.


We concur:


_________________________
McGuiness, P.J.


_________________________
Pollak, J.