Duhaime's Law Dictionary Wobbler Definition: An offense known to American criminal law which offers to the district attorney the option of charging as a misdemeanor or as a felony. Similar to the concept, in Canadian criminal law, of a hybrid offence.In US v Viezcas-Soto, Justice Beam of the United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit wrote: "A felony ... is any federal, state, or local offense punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year."Application of that fairly straightforward definition is complicated in this case, however, by the fact Viezcas-Soto was convicted of violating California Penal Code section 261.5(c).[1] That offense, a so-called wobbler, is either a misdemeanor punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for a term not exceeding one year or a felony punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for up to three years...."[A]n offense punishable either by imprisonment in the state prison or by a county jail sentence is said to wobble between the two punishments and hence is frequently called a wobbler offense."REFERENCES: Duhaime, Lloyd, Duhaime's Legal Dictionary Duhaime, Lloyd, Duhaime's Legal Citations & Abbreviations US v. Viezcas-Soto, 562 F. 3d 903 (2009) Categories & Topics: Duhaime's Criminal Law Dictionary Always looking up definitions? Save time with our search provider (modern browsers only) If you find an error or omission in Duhaime's Law Dictionary, or if you have suggestion for a legal term, we'd love to hear from you!