People v. Burns (1993)

In People v. Burns (1993) 20 Cal.App.4th 1266, the appellant entered a certified plea of guilty after his motion to suppress evidence was denied by the municipal court. At the plea hearing, the prosecutor indicated that the parties had agreed that the denial of the suppression motion would be certified for appeal. The Court of Appeal held that it lacked jurisdiction to review appellant's challenge to the validity of the search and seizure because he never renewed his suppression motion in the superior court prior to entering his plea. (Id. at pp. 1269-1270.) As the court explained, "the parties cannot by their agreement confer upon this court the jurisdiction to hear an issue which is not appealable. . Although this court has jurisdiction to entertain an issue regarding sentence after appellant's plea of guilty citations, we have no authority pursuant to section 1538.5, subdivision (m), to review appellant's search and seizure claim, which was precluded from consideration in the superior court by appellant's certified plea." (Id. at p. 1274.) The court further held that, "since appellant cannot be given the benefit of his plea bargain, which entailed the ability to raise on appeal the search and seizure claim, he must be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea." (Ibid.)