CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL RULES ON TRIAL COURT JURISDICTION
APPEALS - TRIAL COURT JURISDICTION
After the trial court discovered that appellant would not be able to appeal the denial of his discovery motions after entering his guilty plea (apparently contrary to the court's representations), the court recalled the sentence (with the approval of the prosecutor).
They allowed the defendant to withdraw his plea, and then submit to a court trial on documentary evidence.
Defendant then appealed from the new judgment and abandoned the earlier appeal. The appellate court found the second judgment was void, since the court did not have jurisdiction to take the action while an appeal was pending.
The void judgment is reversed, and the merits of appellant's case were not considered. By implication, the defendant is left to seek relief through habeas corpus.
People v. Alanis (C.A. 6th, 1/16/08, H031059) 08 C.D.O.S. 626
