Jonathan Phillips v. California

Does a felony false imprisonment conviction obtained by way of a nolo contendere plea violate the due process protections of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments where Petitioner was never advised by his defense counsel that his plea would later make him ineligible for California Penal Code Section 17(b)1 relief (reduction from felony to a misdemeanor)?

Has the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment been violated where individuals who have been found guilty of a felony by a jury were afforded section 17(b) relief, but Petitioner, who plead nolo contendere to the “wobbler” offense of felony false imprisonment, was not?

Should a felony false imprisonment conviction obtained by way of a nolo contendere plea, be reduced to a misdemeanor where, as here, it was never proven (and there is no evidence) the crime was accomplished with “violence, menace, fraud or deceit”? 1 Hereinafter, all undesignated statutory references are to the California Penal Code.