Minor was too late in challenging trial court’s failure to characterize “wobbler” offense

In In re G.C., the Supreme Court today holds that when a superior court commits a minor but erroneously fails to characterize the minor’s “wobbler” offense as either a felony or a misdemeanor, that error cannot be challenged on appeal from a later juvenile court dispositional order when it’s too late to appeal the original commitment.  The court’s unanimous opinion by Justice Carol Corrigan says that the “failure to timely appeal deprived the appellate court of jurisdiction.”

The court affirms a divided judgment of the Sixth District Court of Appeal.  It disapproves a 2009 opinion by the Fourth District, Division Three.