Can a defendant appeal from a judgment of conviction entered on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere?

"[S]ection 1237.5 provides that a defendant may not take an appeal from a judgment of conviction entered on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere unless he has filed in the superior court a statement of certificate grounds, which go to the legality of the proceedings, including the validity of his plea, and has obtained from the superior court a certificate of probable cause for the appeal." (People v. Mendez (1999) 19 Cal.4th 1084, 1095.) Section 1237.5 should be applied "in a strict manner." (People v. Mendez, supra, 19 Cal.4th at p. 1098.)

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Two exceptions to the certificate of probable cause requirement of section 1237.5 have been recognized. A defendant may take an appeal from a judgment of conviction entered on a plea of guilty or nolo contendere without a certificate of probable cause if the defendant seeks appellate review of (1) the validity of a search or seizure the lawfulness of which was contested under section 1538.5 or (2) errors occurring in adversary proceedings conducted after entry of the plea for purposes of determining the degree of the crime and the penalty to be imposed, and the defendant does not challenge the validity of the plea itself. (People v. Lloyd (1998) 17 Cal.4th 658, 663-664.)