When will a court strike or vacate a prior serious and/or violent felony conviction under the Three Strikes law?

As we stated in People v. Williams (1998) 17 Cal.4th 148, 161, 69 Cal.Rptr.2d 917, 948 P.2d 429: "[I]n ruling whether to strike or vacate a prior serious and/or violent felony conviction allegation or finding under the Three Strikes law, on its own motion, `in furtherance of justice' pursuant to Penal Code section 1385(a), or in reviewing such a ruling, the court in question must consider whether, in light of the nature and circumstances of his present felonies and prior serious and/or violent felony convictions, and the particulars of his background, character, and prospects, the defendant may be deemed outside the scheme's spirit, in whole or in part, and hence should be treated as though he had not previously been convicted of one or more serious and/or violent felonies." The fact that there was insufficient evidence to hold defendant to answer on one of the prior felony convictions is a relevant "circumstance of [a defendant's] ... prior serious and/or violent felony convictions." (Ibid.) If there is indeed insufficient evidence as to one of the convictions to which a defendant pleaded guilty, that fact may well enter into the trial court's assessment of defendant's threat as a recidivist, and therefore whether the imposition of the permitted punishment under the "Three

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Strikes" law really serves the purpose of that law.

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