Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

court minutes

My son was sentenced to 6 years and given 157 days for time served. Two months after going to prison court ''corrected minutes'' and changed 157 days to 51 days credit for felony and 106 days credit for misdemeanor case. Prison says they do not give credit for misdemeanors; therefore he will received only 51 days credit. Can they do this?


Asked on 3/15/07, 1:14 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Terry A. Nelson Nelson & Lawless

Re: court minutes

"Can they"? They just did. Now, if he wants to do anything about it, he has to petition the court where he was convicted. Have his attorney do so.

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Answered on 3/15/07, 1:55 pm
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

Re: court minutes

Your question doesn't explain why some days were attributed to the felony and others to the misdemeanor, but for purposes of this answer I will assume that the judge made a mistake the first time around and got it right the second time.

Your son is not entitled to credits he did not earn, even if the judge mistakenly awrded them to him. The interests of justice would not be served by allowing defendants to take advantage of such errors. If two defendants commit identical crimes and receive identical sentences, why should one be released sooner just because the court mis-calculated his credits?

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Answered on 3/15/07, 4:21 pm


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