Supreme Court of California

Defendant's conviction and death sentence for the first degree murder of a fellow jail inmate, while awaiting trial for the murder of two college students, is reversed where defendant's Sixth Amendment right to represent himself at trial was denied as the trial court erroneously decided that defendant could not adequately represent himself because of jail restrictions resulting from his disciplinary infractions, and Faretta and its progeny require reversal of the judgment in its entirety.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/10/2009
• Published 12/10/2009

Judges

• CORRIGAN, J.

Court

• Supreme Court of California

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• Lynne S. Coffin and Michael J. Hersek, State Public Defenders, under appointment by the Supreme Court, Jay Colangelo, Assistant State Public Defender, Jessica K. McGuire and Caroline Lange, Deputy State Public Defenders, for Defendant and Appellant., Bill Lockyer and Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorneys General, Robert R. Anderson and Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Keith H. Borjon and Jason C. Tran, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.