Is a certificate of probable cause issued based on the denial of the section 995 motion an appealable order?
California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Dunham, E058891 (Cal. App. 2014):
Defendant contends that the trial court had issued a certificate of probable cause based in part on his appeal of the denial of the section 995 motion, thereby making the denial of that motion an appealable order. Section 1237.5 provides a procedural limitation on the scope of appeals, requiring a certificate of probable cause as a necessary step. "The issuance of a certificate of probable cause pursuant to section 1237.5 does not operate to expand the grounds upon which an appeal may be taken . . . ." (People v. De Vaughn (1977) 18 Cal.3d 889, 896.) Accordingly, the mention of the denial of the section 995 motion on the executed certificate of probable cause does not create jurisdiction to review an issue where there is none by operation of law following a guilty plea.
Defendant cited People v. Schoennauer (1980) 103 Cal.App.3d 398 and People v. Torres (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 775 for the proposition that an appeal may be taken from a denial of a section 995 motion after a guilty plea. However, in both of those cases, the defendants' underlying section 995 motions were made on the grounds of an illegal search, not merely insufficiency of the evidence. (People v. Torres, at p. 782; People v. Schoennauer, at p. 404.) The cases are not applicable.
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