Opinion ID: 1127349
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The trial court's denial of the Marsden motion.

Text: (8a) On January 18, 1985, the date scheduled for commencement of trial, Newton moved for a Marsden hearing ( People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 [84 Cal. Rptr. 156, 465 P.2d 44]). Counsel explained that he was in receipt of a document purporting to be a civil complaint for legal malpractice, naming defendant as the plaintiff and Newton and cocounsel Charles Windon as the defendants, and indicated that he construed the complaint as a request for substitution of counsel. Newton expressed his belief that it was necessary to undertake a full hearing pursuant to Marsden on each of the grievances defendant had alleged as a ground for relief. Following a hearing, the trial court denied the motion. [6] Defendant contends the trial court erred in the course of the hearing in refusing to permit him to testify or present evidence in support of his claim of ineffective representation, resulting in a denial of his right to counsel, among other rights guaranteed by the state and federal Constitutions. (9a) In People v. Marsden, supra, 2 Cal.3d at page 124, the seminal case regarding the substitution of appointed counsel, we held that a judge who denies a motion for substitution of attorneys solely on the basis of his courtroom observations, despite a defendant's offer to relate specific instances of misconduct, abuses the exercise of his discretion to determine the competency of the attorney. For this reason, [w]hen a defendant moves for substitution of appointed counsel, the court must consider any specific examples of counsel's inadequate representation that the defendant wishes to enumerate. Thereafter, substitution is a matter of judicial discretion. Denial of the motion is not an abuse of discretion unless the defendant has shown that a failure to replace the appointed attorney would `substantially impair' the defendant's right to assistance of counsel. ( People v. Webster (1991) 54 Cal.3d 411, 435 [285 Cal. Rptr. 31, 814 P.2d 1273]; accord, People v. Freeman (1994) 8 Cal.4th 450, 480 [34 Cal. Rptr.2d 558, 882 P.2d 249, 31 A.L.R.5th 888].) (8b) The record establishes that defendant was afforded ample opportunity to identify and explain the grounds for his dissatisfaction with appointed counsel. The court requested from counsel a copy of the legal malpractice complaint and proceeded to read from this document each of the several grievances alleged, as follows: 1. Defendants promised and agreed to file motions including, but not limited to, motion for order to interview prosecution witnesses; [¶] 2. Defendants further refused to prepare ... motion for production and inspection. Motion for plaintiff's indigent fund; [¶] 3. Motion to declare a conflict of interest between client and attorney; [¶] 4. Defendants has [sic] further taken a position antagonistic and or adverse to plaintiff['s] interest without plaintiff['s] consent and have failed and or refused to assist in the planning and implementation of defense strategy or plaintiff's defense. The defendants have not and or refused to contract any witnesses for the plaintiff's defense. [¶] 5. Defendants did refuse[] and or failed to perform the sworn obligation of their office in contract with the plaintiff. The complaint further alleged generally that defendants had failed to exercise diligence or skill in their representation of defendant. Although not clear from the record, the court apparently also received a sworn declaration submitted by defendant, which set forth additional alleged failings on the part of his attorneys. [7] (9b) We have held, under circumstances in which a defendant has set forth in a self-contained document in sufficient detail the basis for his dissatisfaction with appointed counsel, that a full-blown hearing on the alleged inadequate representation is not required. ( People v. Freeman, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 481; People v. Wharton (1991) 53 Cal.3d 522, 580 [280 Cal. Rptr. 631, 809 P.2d 290].) (8c) In the present case, moreover, not only did the trial court consider defendant's numerous specific written complaints regarding his counsel's performance, but the court additionally provided defendant with ample opportunity to explain further, in the course of the Marsden hearing, his grounds for dissatisfaction. After reading the list of alleged grievances, the court inquired of defendant whether he wished to be heard as to any of them. Defendant simply responded that the attorneys did not perform their duties. After Newton and Windon responded in detail to each of the allegations, explaining and justifying their conduct, the trial court again inquired of defendant whether he wished to be heard. Defendant stated that, although the trial had been scheduled to commence on that date, counsel had failed to undertake an investigation on his behalf to locate witnesses in Chicago. Newton replied that he had retained an investigator for this purpose and that earlier, in the presence of the investigator, defendant had assured counsel that he would provide him with the names of specific witnesses in Chicago who could be interviewed when the time came. Although counsel had urged defendant that the time was now, defendant had failed to provide him with the names or any other information regarding these witnesses. As shown above, contrary to defendant's contention, the trial court did not preclude him from presenting evidence in support of his allegations of incompetent representation. Instead, the court repeatedly inquired of defendant regarding the basis for his complaints and permitted him to respond to his counsel's explanations for their actions. Nor did the trial court accept at face value (as defendant contends) counsel's profferred explanations and justification for their conduct, instead inquiring regarding each listed grievance and then making note of the numerous discovery motions and other pretrial matters that had been filed by defense counsel and that tended to refute defendant's allegations. Indeed, as defendant currently emphasizes on appeal, the prosecution's case hinged primarily upon the testimony of one witness whom defense counsel did interview at length in the attorneys room at the county jail. We conclude defendant was afforded an adequate opportunity to apprise the court in sufficient detail regarding the basis of his dissatisfaction with counsel. Defendant further contends the court erred in failing to appoint independent counsel to represent him at the Marsden hearing. We find no error, defendant having failed to establish even a colorable claim of ineffective representation. ( People v. Smith (1993) 6 Cal.4th 684, 695 [25 Cal. Rptr.2d 122, 863 P.2d 192].) We conclude the denial of the Marsden motion constituted a proper exercise of the trial court's discretion.