P. v. Johnston CA3
In 2003, defendant Tony Dale Johnston entered guilty pleas to unlawful possession of a firearm (case No. F2763), and to first degree burglary, unlawfully taking or driving a vehicle, and arson of a vehicle (case No. F2825). The trial court sentenced him to state prison for over six years in the two matters. In 2011, defendant entered guilty pleas to possessing methamphetamine and receiving stolen property (case No. 11F5155). The trial court sentenced him to a two-year state prison term.
In May 2015, defendant filed a petition in propria persona to reduce these felony convictions to misdemeanors (as well as a 1999 conviction for receiving stolen property that is not pertinent to this appeal) pursuant to Penal Code section 1170.18 (hereafter section 1170.18). He asked that the trial court “broadly and liberally” construe section 1170.18 to apply to all of these offenses, even if they did not all “fi[t] squarely into [the] mold set forth in this act.”
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