IMPORTANT NOTICE: This article is provided solely for research and archival purposes. MCLE self-study credit is no longer available. Even if you follow the instructions and submit payment you will not be granted MCLE self-study credit. Please note that low-cost MCLE is provided by the California Lawyers Association, pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 6056.

1. A conviction, for purposes of a chargeable strike prior that is not a wobbler, occurs when the defendant pleads guilty or upon a verdict of guilty. 
2. Two prior serious or violent felony convictions must be separately brought and tried in order to be alleged as two strikes. 
3. Any information charging a defendant with a crime alleged to have been committed on Jan. 1, 1994, and alleging two serious felony priors, exposes the defendant to 25 years to life as a punishment. 
4. Prior convictions suffered on or before the enactment of the three strikes law are strikes for purposes of pleading and sentencing. 
5. A juvenile adjudication which did not involve a jury verdict is no longer considered a strike for purposes of pleading and sentencing on an adult case. 
6. The court must hear the defendant's motion to strike a prior on Boykin-Tahl grounds even if the defendant was represented by counsel at the prior proceeding. 
7. The prosecution must plead and prove strike priors at the preliminary hearing. 
8. The superior court judge may use Penal Code §17 to reduce wobblers to misdemeanors where strike priors are alleged. 
9. The court can reduce a wobbler to a misdemeanor solely on the basis of the judge's personal antipathy for the strike law. 
10. It is legally appropriate for the court or prosecution to bargain with a defendant for a guilty plea in exchange for the court dismissing a strike prior. 
11. A prior conviction expunged pursuant to Penal Code §1203.4 is no longer a strike prior for purposes of charging. 
12. A defendant, convicted of murder with one or more strike priors found to be true, is sentenced under Penal Code §1170.12 rather than Penal Code §190. 
13. A preliminary hearing transcript cannot be used to prove a strike prior conviction on the grounds it is hearsay. 
14. Trial transcripts are admissible to prove a strike prior conviction, even if the jury hung. 
15. The prosecution or the defense may call live witnesses to prove or disprove the serious nature of a prior felony conviction. 
16. A carjacking (Penal Code §215) with personal use of a firearm (Penal Code §12022.5) committed before June 1, 1993, is not a strike prior. 
17. A felony conviction is not a strike prior if the court stayed the sentence pursuant to Penal Code §654. 
18. If a defendant is convicted of a violation of Penal Code §215, carjacking, the enhancement that he personally used a firearm and that he suffered a prior Penal Code §211 conviction are found to be true, the base term of 3-5-9 years and enhancement punishment of 4-5-10 years is doubled because of the prior conviction, and five years is then added. 
19. Subordinate terms are doubled if the defendant has suffered a strike prior. 
20. A defendant, convicted of a sexual assault crime where the enhancement alleging the defendant used a dangerous and deadly weapon is found to be true by the trier of fact and where a prior serious fel-ony conviction is found to be true, is sentenced under both the strike law (Penal Code §1170.12) and the one strike sex law (Penal Code §667.61). 

This activity has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour.

The State Bar of California certifies that this activity conforms to the standards for approved education activities prescribed by the rules and regulations of the State Bar of California governing minimum continuing legal education.