Los Angeles moved this week to dismiss nearly 66,000 marijuana convictions, years after the state voted to legalize the drug.

The county is working with a not-for-profit technology organization, Code for America, to use algorithms to identify eligible cases within decades-old court documents.

“The dismissal of tens of thousands of old cannabis-related convictions in Los Angeles county will bring much-needed relief to communities of color that disproportionately suffered the unjust consequences of our nation’s drug laws,” said Jackie Lacey, the LA district attorney, in a statement.

Prosecutors this week asked a superior court judge to dismiss 62,000 felony cannabis convictions for cases that date back to 1961. The district attorney’s office also sought the dismissal of approximately 4,000 misdemeanor cannabis possession cases.

Of those getting relief under the plan, approximately 45% are Latino, 32% are African American, 20% are white, and 3% are other or unknown, officials said.

California voters approved eliminating some pot-related crimes and wiping out past criminal convictions or reducing felonies to misdemeanors when they legalized marijuana in 2016.

But there was no easy way to identify an estimated 200,000 cases statewide. Convicts had to file petitions on their own to get their records changed or hire lawyers for help with the process.

Code for America has offered its Clear My Record technology free to all 58 state district attorneys.

With the latest action, Code for America will have helped dismiss more than 85,000 marijuana convictions in five counties including LA, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Contra Costa, officials said.

“This is a clear demonstration that automatic record clearance is possible at scale and can help to right the wrongs of the failed war on drugs,” said Evonne Silva, Code for America’s senior program director of criminal justice, in a statement.

The computer program not only identifies eligible cases, but automatically fills out forms to file with the courts. It can analyze conviction eligibility for about 10,000 people a minute, instead of requiring county employees to dig through individual records.

 A felony hit and run crime was committed on the evening of September 24, 2020 in Hollywood. At approximately 7:00PM, a group of more than 300 protesters marched through Hollywood. While there were isolated reports of vandalism, the group was largely peaceful. The group eventually made its way onto Sunset Boulevard.

At approximately 9:00PM, a blue pick-up truck traveling on Sunset Boulevard maneuvered through the crowd and became involved in an altercation. As the driver of the pick-up truck attempted to get away from the situation, he struck a protester standing in the street. That individual was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries.

Not long after that, a white Prius attempted to drive around that same protest and also became involved in an altercation with individuals in the crowd. A black pick-up truck leading the protests accelerated and pinned that white Prius in, forcing it to come to a stop. The driver of the Prius attempted to flee the area and reversed into a green mustang behind it. That vehicle was also participating in the protest.

Both the drivers of the pick-up truck and the green Mustang attempted to extract the driver of the Prius from his vehicle. However, that driver was able to get away from the scene.

Even though the driver initially escaped, several blocks away, he was detained by Hollywood officers and booked into Hollywood jail. There were no injuries associated with that second incident.

The drivers and victims involved in both altercations have been identified by Hollywood Officers and the investigation is on-going.

A felony is a crime that is punishable with death, by imprisonment in the state prison, or notwithstanding any other provision of law, by imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170. Every other crime or public offense is a misdemeanor except those offenses that are classified as infractions.

When a crime is punishable, in the discretion of the court, either by imprisonment in the state prison or imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170, or by fine or imprisonment in the county jail, it is a misdemeanor for all purposes under the following circumstances:

After a judgment imposing a punishment other than imprisonment in the state prison or imprisonment in a county jail under the provisions of subdivision (h) of Section 1170.

When the court, upon committing the defendant to the Division of Juvenile Justice, designates the offense to be a misdemeanor.

When the court grants probation to a defendant without imposition of sentence and at the time of granting probation, or on application of the defendant or probation officer thereafter, the court declares the offense to be a misdemeanor.

When the prosecuting attorney files in a court having jurisdiction over misdemeanor offenses a complaint specifying that the offense is a misdemeanor, unless the defendant at the time of his or her arraignment or plea objects to the offense being made a misdemeanor, in which event the complaint shall be amended to charge the felony and the case shall proceed on the felony complaint.

When, at or before the preliminary examination or prior to filing an order pursuant to Section 872, the magistrate determines that the offense is a misdemeanor, in which event the case shall proceed as if the defendant had been arraigned on a misdemeanor complaint.