Wobblers and California Penal Code Section 17B

• California DUI and DMV Case
•  › Free DUI Case Evaluation
•  › What To Do First
•  › Elements of the Offense
•  › California Highway Patrol
•  › California DUI Investigation
•  › Chemical Testing
•  › BAC Calculator
•  › California DMV Hearing
•  › Misdemeanor DUI Case
•  › Criminal Jury Trial
•  › Criminal Court Punishment
•  › Alternative Sentencing
•  › Refusal Cases
•  › Felony DUI Case
•  › Medication Cases
•  › Drug Cases
•  › Federal DUI Case
•  › Out-of-State Drivers
•  › Drowsy Driving
•  › Post-Conviction Relief
  1.  » Wobblers
  2.  » Expungement
  3.  » Felony Expungement
•  › Ignition Interlock Devices
•  › Accident Investigation
•  › Accident Reconstruction
•  › Motorcycles, Boats, Planes
•  › California DUI Resources
•  

California drivers convicted of a felony DUI believe that nothing can be done to clean up their criminal records. However, California law allows several forms of post-conviction relief. One available avenue of relief is to have a "wobbler" conviction reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Criminal offenses are categorized inone of three ways:

• Felonies, which can be punished with more than one year in state prison;
• misdemeanors, which can bring up to one year in county jail;
• or "wobblers" - offenses that can be charged as either misdemeanors or felonies;

If the defendant was not sentenced to state prison, a conviction for a wobbler offense can be reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor under California Penal Code Section 17 (b).

If the request to reduce a felony is granted, the crime is treated as a misdemeanor for all purposes, with only a few exceptions. If the individual is arrested for a similar crime in the future, the earlier offense will continue to be treated as a felony, and the punishment for the later crime will be greater. Also, the individual will still be unable to possess firearms, because federal gun statutes supersede state law.

Despite those restrictions, having a felony criminal conviction reduced to a misdemeanor has numerous benefits. The individual will lose his or her ex-felon status, and only the misdemeanor conviction, not the felony, must be disclosed on a job application. The convicting court will advise the Department of Justice (DOJ) of the reduction, and the DOJ will notify law-enforcement agencies. Updating the records takes about six months.

Certain felony convictions can be reduced to misdemeanors, and others can be expunged. A California criminal defense lawyer with experience obtaining post-conviction relief will evaluate each case to determine whether reduction or expungement is an option.