Case law also requires that a judge give the same consideration for traffic school before or after a trial and conviction. To not award traffic school due to the fact that the Defendant had a TBWD or a regular trial and was found guilty is an appealable issue.
Jim,
I agree and I’ll even offer the citations on your behalf…
In
People v. Wozniak, 197 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 43 as well as in
People v. Enochs, 62 Cal. App. 3d Supp. 42 the Courts decisions to deny both defendants the right to Traffic School were overturned on appeal.
That is also confirmed by CVC section 42005 which states in part:
In lieu of adjudicating a traffic offense, and with the consent of the defendant, or after conviction of a traffic offense, the court may order any person issued a notice to appear for a traffic violation to attend a traffic violator school . . .
and by California Rule of Court #4.104(c).3 which states:
A defendant who is otherwise eligible for traffic violator school is not made ineligible by entering a plea other than guilty or by exercising his or her right to trial. A traffic violator school request must be considered based on the individual circumstances of the specific case
However, that same subsection Of the California Rules of Court concludes with:
The court is not required to state on the record a reason for granting or denying a traffic violator school request.
That’s where my
I disagree with you part comes from… That is what my last post is based upon.
Judges today typically will deny the request to traffic school without making an on the record statement as to why. Even if pressed to do so, a simple
“based on the merits of this case the court denies your request” will suffice.
The appellate court case that supports that is:
People v. Schindler, 20 Cal. App. 4th 431.
In that case, the Muni Court had denied the defendant his right to Traffic School after he was convicted of VC section 22349 (76mph in 55mph). The defendant appealed. After review and in its opinion, the Court of Appeals went on to say:
we conclude that after convicting a defendant of a traffic infraction the trial court is not required to state its reasons for denying the defendant's request for traffic school. We affirm the judgment of the municipal court.