P. v. Holtzclaw CA5
In March 2012, appellant Billy Joe Holtzclaw committed felony petty theft with prior convictions and threatened a witness. In August 2012, while out on bail on the petty theft and related charges, he failed to appear in court, which constituted another felony pursuant to Penal Code section 1320.5. Subsequently, the underlying petty theft offense was reduced to a misdemeanor pursuant to the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (hereafter Proposition 47). On appeal, Holtzclaw contends the trial court erred in refusing to reduce his failure to appear charge to a misdemeanor in light of the reduction of the underlying offense; that the trial court erred when it imposed the aggravated term on the failure to appear charge; and that the jail sentence for misdemeanor petty theft with a prior should be no more than six months and not one year. We agree only with his last contention and in all other respects affirm.
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