Individual counties, with the approval of the district attorney,[24] are authorized to establish pre-plea diversion programs for persons charged with misdemeanors.[25]  If the client is charged with a misdemeanor, or the prosecution can be persuaded to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor without entry of a plea, local county rules should be checked to determine whether a local county misdemeanor pretrial diversion program is available to benefit the client.

 

            Similarly, Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) is available to be established by prosecutors for cases that would be charged as misdemeanors, requiring the consent of both the victim and the perpetrator.[26]

[24] See Davis v. Municipal Court (1988) 46 Cal.App.3d 64, 249 Cal.Rptr. 300.

[25] Penal Code § § 1001‑1001.9, 1001.50‑1001.55.

[26] Penal Code § § 14150-14156. See C.E.B., California Criminal Law Procedure and Practice § 9.15 (2008).

Other

POST CON RELIEF " STATE REHABILITATIVE RELIEF " CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES " SINGLE OFFENSE EXCEPTION
A noncitizen who has pre-trial diversion (no plea entered) for a drug charge does not have a conviction for immigration purposes. (INA 101(a)(43)(a), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(a).) If that person later pleads guilty to simple possession of 30 grams or less of marijuana, the noncitizen comes within the exception to deportability under INA 237(a)(2)(B), 8 U.S.C. 1227(a)(2)(B) for having a single offense. The "single offense" language creates an exception to the "has been convicted" language in this statute. Since pre-trial diversion is not a conviction, the guilty to plea to marijuana possession would still seem to come within the language of the single-offense exception. (The Ninth Circuit in de Jesus Melendez v. Gonzales, 503 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2007), held that a noncitizen with a prior grant of pre-trial diversion is not eligible for treatment under Federal First Offender Act, 18 U.S.C. 3607(a), analogue, which makes the plea in the second case a conviction for immigration purposes. In de Jesus Melendez, however, the Federal First Offender Act itself bars eligibility for one who had previously been treated under 18 U.S.C. 3607, and this statute itself has a pretrial diversion provision. The fact that a pre-trial non-conviction diversion bars effective expungement does not mean that it would be considered a first "offense" under the first-offense exception for 30 grams or less of marijuana. Any ambiguity in the statute must be interpreted in favor of the noncitizen in deportation proceedings. Thanks to Dan Kesselbrenner.