Can a defendant plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from People v. McNeal, C085755 (Cal. App. 2018):

motion to reduce the one-year term on the section 12022, subdivision (a)(1), enhancement attached to the assault conviction. Where a defendant pleads guilty in return for a specified sentence, as defendant did here, appellate courts will not find error even though the trial court acted in excess of jurisdiction in reaching that figure so long as the trial court did not lack fundamental jurisdiction. (People v. Hester (2000) 22 Cal.4th 290, 295.) " 'When a defendant maintains that the trial court's sentence violates rules which would have required the imposition of a more lenient sentence, yet the defendant avoided a potentially harsher sentence by entering into the plea bargain, it may be implied that the defendant waived any rights under such rules by choosing to accept the plea bargain.' " (Ibid.)

The abstract of judgment, however, does contain a clerical error that must be corrected. (People v. Mitchell (2001) 26 Cal.4th 181, 185 ["Courts may correct clerical errors at any time, and appellate courts . . . that have properly assumed jurisdiction of cases have ordered correction of abstracts of judgment that did not accurately reflect the oral judgments of sentencing courts"].) There are no boxes checked in Item 4 on the abstract of judgment. We shall direct the trial court to correct Item 4 of the abstract of judgment by checking the boxes showing defendant was sentenced to prison pursuant to section 1170, subdivision (a), due to a current or prior serious or violent felony.

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