In California, a "wobbler" is a criminal violation that may be prosecuted as either a felony or a misdemeanor depending on the circumstances of the case. Misdemeanors usually have less severe consequences compared to felonies. Convictions for felonies have additional penalties, such as being deemed a criminal, which may restrict future privileges and opportunities. If your charges are a wobbler, it would be to your advantage to have your charges lessened or dropped. That’s why you will need a Los Angeles criminal attorney to defend you. Let’s talk more about a wobbler in California.

California Wobbler Offense

According to legal jargon, a "wobbler" refers to a crime that can be classified as either a felony or a misdemeanor. The judgment for this classification is based on the specifics of the offense as well as the criminal history of the defendant. It also impacts the course of due process-of-law, the degree of sentencing, as well as the consequences for both the perpetrator and his or her victim.

A wobbler offense comes into play while negotiating a plea deal, but it could also lead to the expungement of the offense from the accused's record after his or her conviction. During the trial, the prosecution decides whether the crime will be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony. However, the judge has the last say on whether or not to reclassify the wobbler crime during sentencing.

The Difference Between Misdemeanors and Felonies

Misdemeanor charges and felonies have a few key distinctions. Misdemeanors, generally, are non-violent acts such as driving under the influence, shoplifting, parole violations, or minor drug possession. A misdemeanor charge carries a maximum one-year sentence in county jail, probation, fines, or community work.

Felony charges are much more serious charges that can lead to more than a year sentence in state prison. In addition, offenders may have fewer options for the future to seek employment, acquire housing, buy a gun, or receive public benefits. Violent acts, grand theft, firearms offenses, drug trafficking, as well as a majority of sex crimes are all considered felonies.

What Factors Influence a Prosecutor's Decision to Charge a Crime as a Felony or Misdemeanor?

The law in California doesn't specify how the prosecution should prosecute a wobbler. However, they prosecute a wobbler as per the California District Attorneys Association's Uniform Crime Charging Standards.

Whenever a defendant has been detained, the prosecutor decides whether or not it should charge him or her with one or more violations. The prosecution will assess any aggravating or mitigating factors to decide if the crime can be prosecuted as a felony or misdemeanor. Among them are:

  • Was the offender previously charged with the same or a comparable crime?
  • Was the accused's involvement in the crime minor or major?
  • Had the accused been involved in criminal activity for a significant time and seems likely to pursue another crime?
  • The defendant's age
  • Whether or not probation is allowed
  • Did the accused cooperate with the police?
  • The intensity of the allegations used against you
  • The specific conditions and intensity of your offense

It's fair to presume that if the facts of the case are serious and you already have a criminal record, your matter will be handled as a felony. In some cases, your criminal defense lawyers may be successful in persuading the prosecution that your actions do not deserve a felony charge. They could also employ a pre-filing intervention approach, which is engaging with the prosecution to prevent legal charges from being filed.

According to PC 17 (b), the prosecution could also exercise their authority to lower the charge to a misdemeanor should they seek to settle the matter before trial or when new evidence or developments that have emerged diminish the involvement of the accused or raise some questions on the accused's guilt. This could happen when:

  • A newer witness has made a statement
  • A witness's death
  • Evidence is excluded from a court's ruling
  • A crucial prosecution witness's integrity is questioned

Even though you've been charged with a felony charge, you could be able to get it lowered to a misdemeanor in the proceedings.

How a Wobbler can be Reduced from a Felony to a Misdemeanor

After completing probation, offenders can request the judge to have their felony charges reduced to a misdemeanor. An offender might ask to have his or her probationary time reduced if he or she has been on good conduct and has not committed any severe parole violations. To have your charges reduced to a misdemeanor, you must meet three requirements within Penal Code 17 (b):

  • The act is considered a wobbler in California
  • You have never been incarcerated in a state prison
  • If in one case you are charged with several felonies, all of them must be wobblers, otherwise, none of them will be lowered

The Effect of a Wobbler on the Three-Strikes Law

California voters passed the "Three Strikes and You're Out" law.  It simply implies that persons who are charged with three felonies face the possibility of spending the rest of their lives in jail. It has a significant impact on wobbler-related offenses. Even if a crime is typically regarded as a minor, wobbler charges might be treated as 3rd strikes if the defendant has two or more significant felony priors on his or her criminal record.

Before preliminary hearings or sentencing, trial judges have the authority to lower a wobbler prosecuted as a felony charge to a misdemeanor, avoiding the application of a Three Strikes punishment. The judge will decide according to the form and nature of the crime, the accused's comprehension of and approach toward the crime, or his or her character attributes as indicated by his or her conduct, and several other generic sentencing considerations while exercising that authority.

Due to the accused's prior criminal history, some offenses that would normally be misdemeanors may become "wobblers." Petty theft, for instance, is a wobbler in California law because it could be punished as a felony or a misdemeanor.

When the offender has recently received a jail term for specific theft-related offenses, petty theft will become a wobbler. The offense gets the third strike after it has been elevated to a felony charge. Grand theft, for example, is a wobbler irrespective of the accused's previous conviction.

Whenever they are charged as felonies, both forms of wobblers count as triggering crimes as per the Three Strikes Law. Furthermore, even if your charge was lowered to a misdemeanor, you could still be subject to some restrictions.

For instance, as per the Three Strikes Law in California, if your crime was a major felony, it can still be counted as a "strike." A subsequent strike will double your penalty, and a 3rd strike will result in a mandatory minimum term of 25 years to life. Furthermore, if you have been mandated to be officially registered as a sex offender after you were charged, the change in circumstances to a misdemeanor does not excuse you.

Can a Judge Reduce a Felony to a Misdemeanor for a Wobbler Offense?

Despite the prosecution's desires, a judge always has the authority to lower your charges to a misdemeanor at:

  • The initial hearing
  • At the time of your sentencing
  • If you petitioned, after the fulfillment of your probation

The judge can also take into account factors that are comparable to those considered by the prosecutor.

They are as follows:

  • If you're a repeat offender
  • If you've previously been charged with minor crimes
  • If you previously had violent and significant convictions
  • Have you satisfied every one of the requirements of the probation?
  • If you're working, volunteering, or generally contributing to your community's well-being
  • The type or seriousness of the crime you're requesting to have lowered
  • What role did you play when the crime was committed?
  • Are you capable of committing more crimes in the future?

Your 2nd Amendment firearms ownership rights as well as other fundamental liberties will be reinstated once the sentence is not a felony anymore.

The Importance of a Wobbler

Given the significant distinction between misdemeanor charges and felonies, the possibilities given by a wobbler are significant.

The Implications of a Felony

A felony charge can result in a term ranging from 1 year to life imprisonment or possibly the death penalty. If charged, you could face fines of up to  $10,000. Other benefits and privileges, however, may be lost as a result of a felony conviction:

  • Employment Status

Some forms of prior criminal charges must be disclosed by a potential employee. Failure to do so may lead to a job opportunity being declined. Even though the individual is recruited, the omission might lead to termination if it is later discovered.

  • Professional License

If convicted of a felony involving a career such as a nurse, physician, dentist, pharmacist, teacher, attorney, licensed engineer, licensed surveyor, or real estate agent, your professional license may be revoked

  • Firearms

Purchasing, possessing, or using firearms are all forbidden in most cases.

  • Alcohol Permit

A felony charge could result in the loss of a permit to sell alcoholic beverages.

  • Armed Forces

In most cases, a felon cannot enlist in the armed forces. Soldiers or veterans of the armed forces might also forfeit their pensions if they are convicted of certain felonies.

These are serious repercussions that could have a significant influence on your life.

Consequences of a Misdemeanor

On the other hand, misdemeanors are much less severe than felonies.  Most of these are subject to up to 6 months in prison or a $1,000 fine, however, others are penalized with a 364-day maximum prison sentence.

The Expungement of a Wobbler

Many offenders charged with felonies can have their convictions reduced to misdemeanors under California PEN 17. According to California PEN 1203.4, a felony can be reduced to a misdemeanor charged and ultimately expunged or entirely dismissed.

This is crucial for averting a record for a felony charge, as well as recovering or retaining gun ownership rights. Individuals seeking a charge reduction may choose to apply for an early probation termination under California PEN 1203.3 at the same time.

When a record is expunged, it no longer exists for most (but not every) purpose. Most notably, many employment applications don't require the inclusion of an expunged record.

An offender may petition the judge to reduce a previous felony charge to a misdemeanor under PEN 17(b). As a result of this decision, a felony charge can be classified as a misdemeanor charge for all future purposes. This means that you will not lose your voting or gun ownership rights if you respond "no" to an inquiry about whether you've ever been charged with a felony or if you have a felony record.

Under California laws, only "wobblers" are subject to expungement. PEN 17 prohibits the reduction of a "straight felony" charge. Your criminal defense attorney will refer to your laws governing whatever crime you have been charged with and what it offers as the harshest sentence rather than the overall laws governing misdemeanors and felonies when assessing the "wobbler" offense's statute of limitations.

 To be eligible, the accused must meet the following requirements:

  • Have satisfactorily fulfilled probation (or got an early probation termination) for the crime
  • never been sentenced to state imprisonment for the crime
  • Have spent time in state prison for a crime which, as a consequence of the 2011 Proposition 47 "realignment" law, would be sentenced to a county jail term

Certain crimes in California can't be expunged. Major sex crimes against children are among such crimes. An expungement attorney in California can help you determine if a previous record is a misdemeanor or a felony.

California Misdemeanor/Infraction Wobblettes

Wobblettes are offenses that can be classified as infractions or misdemeanors. A breach of, or a lack of compliance with, specific sections of the California Vehicle Code, a state ordinance, or another law or regulation is referred to as an infraction. Fines are the only penalties for infractions. An infraction does not carry the penalty of incarceration. A $250 penalty, with assessment as well as fees, is the highest penalty for an infraction.

All sections of the PEN that pertain to misdemeanors apply to infractions, except for jury trials as well as the need to hire a defense attorney which doesn’t apply to infraction offenders. Furthermore, as is common for all offenses, the Criminal Code specifies that an accused in a court case is deemed innocent until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt

Infraction offenders are not entitled to a jury trial or a defense attorney appointed at taxpayer expense, according to the Penal Code. It states that:

An infraction does not carry the penalty of incarceration. A defendant accused of an infraction does not have the right to a jury trial. Except if he/she is detained and not discharged on his/her written guarantee to attend, his/ her own recognizance, or perhaps the payment of bail, an individual accused of an infraction isn't eligible to engage the state defender or any other assigned counsel designated at public cost to defend him/her.

In addition, the Criminal Code states that any other laws on misdemeanors equally relate to infractions. It also states that:

All sections of laws on misdemeanors, such as, but not restricted to, the authority of officers of the law, the sovereignty of courts, timeframes for initiating action and presenting a matter to court, as well as the burden of proof, shall apply to infractions unless otherwise specified by law.

Whilst the Criminal Code eradicates jury trials as well as the designation of legal representation for infraction offenders, they maintain every other privilege that a misdemeanor offender would have.

Wobblettes work similarly to wobblers in many ways. Either of the following options can be used to lower the charges to an infraction:

  • By the prosecution at the moment of prosecuting
  • At the sentencing, by the judge

In California, there's one significant distinction between a wobblette and a wobbler. The defendant must agree before the wobblette can be punished as an infraction.

The majority of people will consent to be convicted of an infraction then pay a minor fee if they are charged with one. However, some offenders may opt to accept a misdemeanor charge.

This is because a misdemeanor sometimes can result in a jail term rather than a fine. So, instead of paying a fine, somebody who has spent time in prison on a similar charge may want to be penalized to jail time.

Find a Los Angeles Criminal Attorney Near Me

Many defendants enter a guilty plea to a wobbler before even consulting with a criminal defense counsel. The prosecution can make it appear as if the odds are stacked against you. However, a competent Los Angeles criminal defense attorney will not only assist you in having your charges reduced but could have your charges dropped entirely. Contact the Los Angeles Criminal Attorney at 424-333-0943 if you need professional legal advice and support to achieve the best possible outcome.