Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: sentance appeal

Because there are rules limiting a judge's discretion during sentencing, it is possible for a judge to pronounce a sentence that is legally impermissible given the verdict and factual findings in the case. When this happens, the state may appeal the sentence; a successful appeal will result either in the case being sent back to the trial court with instructions on what to do differently or (if there is only one correct sentence which can be imposed) in a new sentence being imposed by the Court of Appeal.

The same is true where a trial court reduces a felony to a misdemeanor. This can happen if the judge believes the proseution's evidence failed as a matter of law to support the felony conviction but that it did support a conviction of a lesser-included misdemeanor offense. A judge only has authority to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor under these circumstances, and cannot simply decide on her own that a misdemeanor conviction would be more appropriate. If a judge does this based on an incorrect understanding of the law or the facts, then the state can appeal the decision and the felony conviction can be reinstated. The logic here is that the felony was never really tossed out because the judge had no authority to do so.

These proecudures usually do not amount to double jeopardy.