What is the test for obtaining a certificate of probable cause under section 1237.5 of the California Criminal Code?

Appellant's failure to obtain a certificate of probable cause under section 1237.5 is fatal to the majority of her claims. Under section 1237.5, a defendant may not appeal from a judgment of conviction after entering a plea of no contest unless "[t]he defendant has filed with the trial court a written statement, executed under oath or penalty of perjury showing reasonable constitutional, jurisdictional, or other grounds going to the legality of the proceedings," and "the trial court has executed and filed a certificate of probable cause for such appeal with the clerk of the court." ( 1237.5, subds. (a), (b).) "'The purpose of section 1237.5 is . . . "to discourage and weed out frivolous or vexatious appeals challenging convictions following guilty and nolo contendere pleas," and . . . [t]he requirements of [the statute] . . . must be strictly applied.'" (People v. Mashburn (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 937, 941.)

Absent a certificate of probable cause, an appeal from a judgment following a no-contest plea is limited to review of either a ruling denying a motion to suppress evidence or to issues that do not challenge the validity of the plea, but relate to subsequent hearings determining the degree of the crime or the punishment imposed. (People v. Johnson (2009) 47 Cal.4th 668, 677.) Only three of appellant's claims pertain to matters other than the validity of her plea. First, she claims the trial court erred in denying her request to relieve her retained counsel following her plea. As noted, however, the court denied appellant's initial request only when she had no substitute counsel prepared to take over,

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and ultimately granted her request to substitute in newly retained counsel. Appellant was therefore not deprived of her right to counsel of her choice. (See People v. Verdugo (2010) 50 Cal.4th 263, 310-311 [Sixth Amendment to federal Constitution guarantees right to retained counsel of choice].)