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Criminal Law Case Summaries

■ People v. Vasilyan, No. B205679

Appellant Arthur Vasilyan was charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1994 with three counts of a violation of Penal Code section 422.7 (section 422.7).  He pleaded nolo contendere to two counts; the third count was dismissed.  Appellant was placed on probation on the conditions that he would serve 39 days in county jail, pay a fine, and spend 80 hours of community service.  No appeal was taken from the judgment of conviction.

            On June 21, 2007, appellant, through his counsel, filed a motion to vacate the judgment and for leave to withdraw his guilty plea.  Alternatively, the motion sought relief in terms of petitions for writs of coram nobis, habeas corpus, and audita querela.  In large part, the motion relied on People v. Wallace (2003) 109 Cal.App.4th 1699 (Wallace), which held that section 422.7 is only a penalty provision; we set forth the entirety of section 422.7 in the margin.[1]  An amended motion, much to the same effect as the original motion, was filed on December 7, 2007.  The motion was denied.  This appeal is from the denial of the motion entered on December 12, 2007.  We agree with appellant that the judgment entered in 1994 is void.  We vacate appellant’s plea of nolo contendere and remand with directions to amend or dismiss the information, as appears appropriate.

■ HELD:

Trial court's judgment of conviction and defendant's pleas of nolo contendere stemming from a his 1994 conviction are vacated where the judgment against defendant under Penal Code sec. 422.7 is void, as sec. 422.7 is only a penalty provision, and thus, the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the matter.
People v. Vasilyan .-B205679-5/28/09 CA2/8
People v. Vasilyan .-B205679-5/28/09 CA2/8

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