California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Brown, 198 Cal.Rptr.3d 789, 244 Cal.App.4th 1170 (Cal. App. 2016):
In Harris v. Superior Court, supra, 242 Cal.App.4th 244, 195 Cal.Rptr.3d 3, the majority concluded Collins applies whenever a change in the law has the effect of depriving the People of the benefit of a plea bargain, whether the defendant's vulnerability to incarceration is eliminated entirely or merely reduced. (Harris v. Superior Court, supra, at pp. 250251, 195 Cal.Rptr.3d 3.) Because the resentencing in that case had the effect of reducing the defendant's potential sentence from six years in state prison to six months in county jail, which the majority concluded was a windfall to the defendant and deprived the People of the benefit of their bargain, the majority held the People could withdraw from the plea bargain and reinstate dismissed charges. (Id. at pp. 248, 250251, 195 Cal.Rptr.3d 3.)
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