Need a case involving felony meth possession reduced to misdemeanor

Information involving felony meth possession reduced to misdemeanor

California State - Hi, I am charged with felony possession of meth H&S 11377. I am representing myself in this matter. I need to know some case involving the reduction of felony charges to misdemeanor because of the small amount of narcotic. I was arrested and charged with under a half of a gram of methamphetamine. During the preliminary examination the officer testified that when he weighed the drug, he also weighed the bag that it was in. Therefore, the majority of this weight was including the weight of the bag itself. Hence, I was not actually in possession of the precise weight they claimed, but much less. I moved to have the charge reduced from felony to misdemeanor under p.c. 17(b). The Judge said there is certainly authority in existence for him to do this, whereas the charge is "a wobbler". However, he wants the particular case law regarding this. Can anyone help me and direct me to some case which involves this scenario. I need some case which involves the reduction of felony charges to misdemeanor because of the small amount of the drug.

So you are acting pro se facing a felony charge, don't know of any cases that would help you get this reduced, and don't know where to look for them. How much thought have you given to this brilliant plan as I really do not see it ending well for you.

Let me say this another way.

It is not the purpose of this internet forum to do your legal research for you for free.

You are asking for a tremendous amount of work.... and not a bit of it you should trust.

Get an attorney. This is NOT a DIY project.

Why the hel* are you defending yourself? I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude, but that's idiotic. The worst public defender would do better than you can. Lawyers have spent years in school for a reason. This is not a smart gamble. You have way too much to lose. Have you been convicted of a felony before? If not, you have even more to lose.

Do you qualify for a public defender? If so, get one. If not, do what you can to hire a lawyer. Lawyers can do things you just can't do. No matter how much you study and how much you know there are things a lawyer can do that you can't simply because you don't have the title and they do. You also don't seem to have all the knowledge since you don't know how to research case law. If you had a lawyer he would know, or would fairly easily be able to find out, how to get a felony reduced to a misdemeanor based on the small amount of drugs if it's possible (where I live the possession of any amount of any drug except for cannabis is a felony).
Just because you get a public defender or a private lawyer doesn't mean that you relinquish all control and can't continue to advocate for yourself. But you'll have someone with the knowledge and "special access" to help you accomplish what you want accomplished. You'll also be able to get answers to the questions you ask on this site which I doubt that you will get here.

cunundrum said:

Hi, I am charged with felony possession of meth H&S 11377. I am representing myself in this matter.

Click to expand...

Good luck with that.

Your prior record is everything... which I hope is nil. I will assume that you are eligible for prop 36, so even if you screw this up, you are still statutorily considered eligible to probation.

If I were to make motion before the court, I would prepare my motion, including declaration and points and authorities (case law) and submit it to the court. This can be handled on a motion calendar (by getting those dates/times from the clerk) or if there is a pretrial set, set it then - obviously serving the people. The court may even rest on that alone, if I floundered about before the judge.

Obviously the court has absolute discretion, there is no case law to compel the court that they should based on quantity. But there is plenty of case law that they can. In fact, I would bet if you asked the clerk to see the last 30 felonies, you would find a few right in that court.

Most of these do go as felonies because the court wants a hammer over your head if you screw up prop 36 .. but I will say if this court is compelled to reduce to a misd, a pd could do with a conversation what you are going to do by significant work (and you may screw it up). It is much easier to reduce by simple plea deal. The DA is not worried about you because they surely just know they are going to own you. You are already screwing up your first motion by making it incorrectly.

All that said,

A good discussion of the courts discretion (and abuse thereof) to reduce to a misd, and the case law research trail can be begun with People v. Superior Court (Steven Alvarez).