Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

how can I go about getting my husband who was sentenced to 25 yr not 25 to life and they dropped 2 strikes off so he only has 2 strikes. He was not given a trial and he is doing 80% of his time for a $31.00 bottle of alcohol. they gave him that much time based on his priors but he was off parole. the called his case a wobbler so based on the new law that just passed how can I get him out or get a sentence modification done


Asked on 9/09/09, 8:33 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Edward Hoffman Law Offices of Edward A. Hoffman

I apologize if I misread your earlier question; my prior answer presumed this was a three-strikes case. Sadly, the new facts you have provided don't change the result very much.

If your husband got a 25-year sentence on a second strike then this was probably more than a simple theft, regardless of his priors. Is there more to the story?

If your husband didn't have a trial then presumably he pled either guilty or no contest. If he didn't, well, then something went seriously amiss.

That your husband was off parole doesn't matter unless he was charged with committing his new crime while on parole. Even then, if his guilty plea acknowledged the truth of this accusation, then it is probably too late to argue that it was false.

I'm not sure which new law you are referring to, but changes in the law generally are not retroactive. Even if prosecutors now have the option of charging this crime as either a felony or a misdemeanor, that would not affect prior felony convictions unless the legislature demonstrably intended the change to work retroactively.

I'm sorry I can't be more encouraging.

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Answered on 9/09/09, 8:41 pm


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