People v. Hurlic, 235 Cal. Rptr. 3d 255

Defendant Hurlic pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder and admitted a 20-year firearm enhancement under former Penal Code §12022.53(c); the parties agreed to a 25‑year sentence.
Plea and agreement were entered in March–September 2017; defendant did not obtain a certificate of probable cause.
Senate Bill No. 620 was enacted October 11, 2017 (effective Jan 1, 2018) and amended §12022.53 to give trial courts discretion to strike firearm enhancements.
Defendant appealed seeking application of SB 620 to permit the trial court to consider striking the 20‑year enhancement.
The People argued (1) a certificate of probable cause was required because the plea fixed a specific sentence, and (2) remand would be futile.
The Court of Appeal vacated the judgment and remanded for resentencing, holding no certificate of probable cause is required in these narrow circumstances and that remand is not necessarily futile.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (People)	Defendant's Argument (Hurlic)	Held
Whether a certificate of probable cause under Penal Code §1237.5 is required to appeal a plea-fixed sentence when a subsequent ameliorative statute (SB 620) grants trial-court discretion to strike an enhancement	Certificate required because the parties agreed to a specific sentence; challenge to that sentence is in substance a challenge to the plea	No certificate required because SB 620 is a later-enacted ameliorative statute that retroactively grants discretion and does not invalidate the plea	No certificate required; retroactive ameliorative statute applies and does not undermine plea validity
Whether remanding for resentencing under SB 620 would be futile	Remand is futile because plea fixed the sentence and court would reimpose the enhancement	Remand is appropriate because the trial court must be given the discretion to decide whether to strike the enhancement	Remand is not necessarily futile; vacated judgment and remanded for the trial court to exercise discretion under amended §12022.53(h)

People v. Panizzon, 13 Cal.4th 68 (Cal. 1996) (certificate of probable cause required when plea fixes a specific sentence)
People v. Cuevas, 44 Cal.4th 374 (Cal. 2008) (reaffirming need for certificate when agreement fixes sentence)
People v. Buttram, 30 Cal.4th 773 (Cal. 2003) (no certificate required when plea permits court discretion within agreed maximum)
In re Estrada, 63 Cal.2d 740 (Cal. 1965) (new ameliorative statutes apply retroactively to nonfinal convictions absent contrary intent)
People v. Segura, 44 Cal.4th 921 (Cal. 2008) (plea agreements are contractual and generally enforced)
People v. Billingsley, 22 Cal.App.5th 1076 (Cal. Ct. App. 2018) (SB 620 applies retroactively to nonfinal convictions)