Can a defendant appeal against a finding that a certificate of probable cause is not needed to comply with section 1237.5 of the California Criminal Code?

Defendant requests we treat the appeal as a petition for writ of mandate, citing People v. Nigro (1974) 39 Cal.App.3d 506, 511 ["Since the record has been lodged with this court and in order to prevent further waste of time, effort and money, we have treated this matter, albeit untimely, as a petition for [writ of] mandate, reviewed the

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record and concluded that the trial court properly refused to issue a certificate of probable cause"].) Because this is not a case involving "a felony convict who ignores the requirements of section 1237.5 and . . . nevertheless[ seeks to] get an appellate opinion, advisory or otherwise, discussing the merits of the contentions which he or she improperly seeks to raise" (People v. Ballard (1985) 174 Cal.App.3d 982, 987), as defendant attempted to comply with section 1237.5 but was told a certificate of probable cause was not needed, we shall treat the appeal as a petition for writ of mandate but deny the petition.