California Court Rules Some Felony Cannabis Convictions May Be Reduced to Misdemeanors

A California appellate court last week ruled that some felony cannabis convictions may be reduced to misdemeanors, reversing the decision from a lower court that determined the offenses were ineligible for reclassification.

In People v. Baxter, the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two held that state law allows certain aggravated cannabis cultivation offenses to be treated as “wobblers,” or offenses that can be charged as either a misdemeanor or felony. The court overturned a San Bernardino County judge’s decision, calling that ruling “an abuse of discretion” and allowing trial courts to consider reducing felony convictions even when the original charges included allegations of environmental harm or illegal waste discharge.

The case involves Amanda Qiaoqun Baxter, who in February 2023 was charged with nine counts of felony marijuana cultivation, five counts of misdemeanor possession of marijuana for sale, three counts of felony receipt of proceeds derived from controlled substances, and two counts of felony conspiracy to cultivate marijuana. As to each felony cultivation count, the charges allege that Baxter either illegally discharged waste or caused substantial environmental harm to public lands and other public resources, according to court documents. The following month, Baxter pleaded guilty to two counts of felony marijuana cultivation and one count of misdemeanor possession of marijuana for sale.

The trial court imposed a suspended sentence, ordered restitution, placed Baxter on probation for two years, and ordered that she serve 240 days in county jail, which were to be satisfied by work release. In March 2025, after Baxter fulfilled her probation conditions, she filed motions to dismiss her lower-level convictions – which were granted – and reduce her felony convictions to misdemeanors, which were denied because the trial court determined that “[t]he language of the statute itself does not permit or make this a wobbler,” the trial court ruled, according to court documents.

The appeals court determined that the trial court “committed legal error” in that determination “and therefore abused its discretion by concluding that the offense was a straight felony” because state legalization of cannabis had changed the state’s laws related to unlawful cannabis cultivation.