A wobbler, per California statutes, is any criminal violation the prosecutor can file as a misdemeanor or felony, depending on facts like your criminal record and the case’s circumstances. Sometimes, the judge decides whether you should face felony or misdemeanor charges. When charged with a wobbler, it is critical to understand how the offense works, possible penalties, and charge reduction from a wobbler felony to a wobbler misdemeanor for lenient penalties. 

California Wobbler Offenses at a Glance

California statutes recognize three major crime classifications: infractions, misdemeanors, and felonies. A straight felony is the harshest offense, attracting lengthy prison incarceration upon conviction. Misdemeanors are more lenient offenses whose guilty verdict attracts jail incarceration. An infarction, on the other hand, only attracts court fines and no jail or prison sentence. 

However, depending on the case facts, the district attorney or judge can file an offense as a wobbler, meaning it is not a straight felony or misdemeanor. A wobbler means the crime can attract either misdemeanor or felony penalties based on various facts. Therefore, wobbler crimes are also called alternative felonies or misdemeanors.

When your offense is classified as a wobbler, and the court finds you guilty of a felony, you can seek a charge reduction from a wobbler felony for lenient sentencing. Examples of California wobblers include:

  • Vehicular manslaughter
  • Burglary
  • Grant theft
  • Spousal battery
  • Statutory rape
  • Making criminal threats
  • Lascivious conduct with a minor
  • Forgery
  • Stalking
  • Domestic battery
  • Assault with a lethal weapon
  • Sexual assault
  • Child endangerment
  • Carrying a loaded firearm in public

When convicted of any of these offenses as a felony, you should maximize the chance to reduce it because the penalties significantly differ. 

Felony Crimes Overview

Criminal violations filed as straight felonies are severe, and the penalties are life-changing. When the court convicts you of the offense, the possible penalties include at least twelve months of prison incarceration and court-imposed fines of at most $10,000. Also, a conviction will have severe collateral consequences, as you must disclose the conviction to potential employers, increasing your chances of being discriminated against for the job. If you hold a job, a felony guilty verdict can lead to job loss. 

Acquiring a practicing license with a criminal record for a felony will also be challenging. You will not be entitled to own or purchase a gun even after completing your sentence. These severe consequences are life-altering, so you need a skilled criminal defense attorney to reduce the charge or prevent a guilty verdict.

California Misdemeanors

Misdemeanors are lesser crimes for which a guilty verdict results in at least six months of jail incarceration and a monetary court fine of at most $1,000. The longest time you can serve for a misdemeanor is twelve months, and most of the time, you only complete part of the sentence as the court offers informal probation instead of serving time in jail.

Deciding on Wobbler Charges

California does not provide guidelines on how to charge a wobbler. The district attorney, or judge, has discretion on how to charge the wobbler. However, when making the decision, they must consider these factors:

Your Crime’s Severity

Your wobbler’s severity will inform the prosecutor of the type of charge to prefer against you. Usually, when the victim of your criminal violation dies or sustains substantial bodily injuries, the court will impose felony penalties for the wobbler. Besides, the court, or DA, considers the crime's complexity. For instance, when charged with burglary, which is a wobbler, the prosecutor will prefer felony charges if the victim died or suffered severe injuries or a misdemeanor if no harm was sustained. 

Your Criminal History

California statutes impose stricter penalties on defendants with a criminal past. So, if you are a repeat offender, particularly for a related crime, the prosecutor will bring felony counts against you. When your crime is classified as a wobbler, and it happens to be your first crime, your defense attorney can easily convince the court to charge you with a misdemeanor. 

Cooperation with Police

If you help the police with investigations and do not resist arrest, the prosecutor will prefer misdemeanors over felony charges. However, when you refuse to cooperate with the authorities during arrest and subsequent investigations, you will likely face felony counts.

The Strength or Solidity of the DA’s Charges

Whether the wobbler offense is filed as a felony or misdemeanor, the DA must demonstrate beyond moral certainty that you committed the crime to secure a guilty verdict. Usually, demonstrating the felony elements or facts beyond a reasonable doubt can be challenging, lowering the chances of a conviction. The prosecutor aims to obtain a conviction, even for a lesser offense. Therefore, instead of charging you with a felony for which they are not assured of a win, they can prefer misdemeanor charges to increase conviction chances. 

Your Age

California laws are more lenient to delinquents or young offenders. So, when a minor engages in a delinquent act, their case is adjudicated in the juvenile court, whose objective is to rehabilitate delinquents into responsible citizens. Nevertheless, when a delinquent commits a severe offense outlined under Welfare and Institution Code (WIC) 707b, they risk being transferred to the adult court to face charges. When your child is charged with a wobbler offense in the adult criminal court after a transfer from the juvenile court, the DA will likely prefer misdemeanor charges over felonies for the young offender to face lenient penalties.

Probation Eligibility

Courts impose probation in lieu of jail. So, when you are eligible for probation, you spend some time in jail and the rest of the sentence outside jail. However, only a few defendants qualify for probation, and if you do and you have committed a wobbler offense, the prosecutor will prefer misdemeanor counts.

Lastly, the court considers the likelihood of you continuing your criminal conduct in the future when deciding on felony or misdemeanor charges in a wobbler crime. When the court feels you will continue with your criminal habits, it will impose felony penalties involving lengthy prison incarceration and hefty fines to discourage such conduct and allow you more rehabilitation time.

Lowering a Wobbler Offense from Felony to Misdemeanor

California PEN 17b gives judges and DAs the discretion to reduce wobbler felonies to misdemeanors at the four primary stages of the case. These are:

  1. When the DA Files Formal Charges

Before considering formal counts against you, the prosecutor evaluates the police report regarding the wobbler crime and the evidence against you before filing a formal count in court. At the filing stage, the presiding judge also checks the evidence and can rule that the wobbler felony charge the prosecutor wants to charge you will be reduced for the charges to continue.

  1. When Answering Felony Charges at a Preliminary Proceeding

Once the DA files charges, the presiding judge schedules a preliminary proceeding. In the proceeding, the judge reviews the evidence to decide if the proof against you by the DA is sufficient to demonstrate criminal liability. The preliminary hearing only happens in wobbler crimes if you have been charged with a wobbler felony. If, after evaluating the evidence against you for the felony, the judge concludes that the evidence is insufficient to convict you for your actions, they can lower the charges. It is critical to have a skilled criminal attorney at this stage of the case because they can convince the court to drop the case due to insufficient evidence.

The evidentiary standard in the preliminary proceeding is lower than that of the trial. In the preliminary hearing stage, the prosecutor only demonstrates that there is probable cause that you committed the alleged wobbler for the case to proceed to the next stage.

  1. During Sentencing

Another stage where reducing a wobbler felony is possible is in the sentencing phase. Judges hold a sentencing proceeding to impose penalties after you have been convicted of a crime in a trial or you have pleaded guilty. During the hearing, your defense attorney has the chance to submit mitigating circumstances to compel the court to impose lenient penalties. Therefore, at this stage, if your attorney presents compelling mitigating factors, the judge can agree to reduce the felony penalties to misdemeanor penalties.

  1. Upon Completion of Formal or Felony Probation

You can reduce a wobbler felony, but not a direct felony. Therefore, after you have been convicted of a wobbler felony, it is possible to obtain a reduction upon completion of formal probation. However, to qualify for the charge reduction, you must be on formal probation after the wobbler felony conviction. If the judge does not grant felony probation and imposes a prison sentence, you will be ineligible for a count reduction.

You can enhance your chances of obtaining a reduction by partnering with a competent criminal lawyer. One of the reasons you need a profound legal representative is that they will gather evidence to strengthen your case and weaken the DA’s arguments. If the prosecutor discovers they have a weak case, they will not risk a trial and will be willing to reduce the wobbler felony charge to a more lenient one.

Similarly, your attorney will find expert witnesses to testify in your favor for a charge reduction or case dismissal.

Besides, during the trial, your attorney will cross-examine the witnesses presented to the court by the DA to poke holes in their testimony and make it challenging to prove felony elements. That way, your chances of a charge reduction are elevated.

Even if the DA denies you a charge reduction for the wobbler felony, the judge can grant it if you present solid mitigating factors. The mitigating facts that can compel the court to grant a reduction are:

  • You have a clean criminal record, and your current charge is the first
  • You were an accessory to the crime in question but not the perpetrator. All parties involved in a crime are the same, but if you are not actively involved, the court would be more willing to grant a reduction. 
  • You confessed or pleaded guilty to the alleged wobbler at the start of the case
  • You paid the victim's restitution. When your wobbler crime involves a victim losing their life or sustaining substantial injuries, your punishment will include victim restitution. If you compensate their victim or descendants before sentencing, the judge will be more willing to offer a reduction.
  • Your previous rehabilitation attempts on parole or probation were successful
  • You were cautious when committing the wobbler offense to avoid hurting other people

However, even after obtaining a charge reduction, some felony conviction consequences will still haunt you. First, if you were convicted under the California three strikes statutes, the felony guilty verdict will still add a strike to your record even after the count reduction.

Also, when the felony conviction is for a serious felony sex offense that comes with the obligation to enlist as a sexual predator, the status of your obligation will not change because of the charge reduction. Again, state licensing agencies will still consider the guilty verdict a felony.

Wobbler Conviction Expunction

An expungement or expunction provides individuals with relief from disabilities stemming from a conviction. When your records are expunged, they cease to exist, and you should not reveal the record to a potential employer or landlord. In California, you can expunge a guilty verdict for a wobbler offense, whether a misdemeanor or felony. Nevertheless, you must satisfy the following conditions to be eligible for relief:

  • You must have satisfactorily completed probation or obtained an early termination.
  • You must not have served a prison sentence for the wobbler you want to expunge. Nevertheless, you could qualify for expunction if you served time in prison for an offense punishable by a jail sentence under Prop. 47 realignment.
  • When applying for expungement, you should not have a pending charge or serve time for another criminal violation.

However, you cannot expunge a serious sex offense, particularly against a child, unless you have a rehabilitation certificate or a governor’s pardon. 

Find a Competent Criminal Attorney Near Me

When charged with a wobbler crime in Los Angeles County, call the Law Offices of Jonathan Franklin. Our attorneys will evaluate your case and gather new evidence to negotiate with the prosecutor for a charge reduction. Besides, we will help you expunge the wobbler conviction to obtain a clean slate. Call us today at 310-273-9600 for a no-obligation consultation.