Opinion ID: 1278599
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: L.A. 31722: Enforcement of the Trial Court's December 23 Order by Contempt

Text: In mid-January 1983, Corenevsky filed a third petition  for a writ of mandate  in the Court of Appeal. Respondents named were the Imperial Superior Court and the People. He urged in that petition that a fair trial had become impossible, and that the only appropriate remedy was dismissal of the charges against him, because the county refused to pay even the $13,314 ordered for appointed experts. The petition apparently sought no order directing the disbursal of the previously ordered funds; the county auditor was not named as a party. The People, however, filed briefs arguing that dismissal was inappropriate, and that, instead, the order of payment should be enforced. Accordingly, the Court of Appeal issued an order directing petitioner Titsworth to disburse $13,314 to Corenevsky before January 31 or show cause before the superior court why he should not be held in contempt for failing to do so. Titsworth sought rehearing on the ground that the appellate court lacked jurisdiction over him, a nonparty. On the same day the Court of Appeal issued the following order: The petition for rehearing has been read and considered and is denied. `The board shall approve [a] claim and the auditor shall issue [a] warrant for [an] expenditure ... upon an order of a court of competent jurisdiction ... as ... provided by law.' (Gov. Code, § 29122.) Titsworth did not seek a hearing in this court. But neither did he make payment of the $13,314. On January 31, the deadline for disbursal set in the Court of Appeal's show-cause order, the superior court ordered defense counsel to prepare contempt papers against Titsworth. On the following day, defense counsel filed a request in the Court of Appeal asking that the superior court be ordered to initiate contempt proceedings because defendant was not a party to that proceeding. The Court of Appeal responded by directing the superior court to order the matter on calendar February 4, and to itself prepare the papers and have them served on the Auditor. The superior court judge then appointed counsel to represent the court, and following the February 4 hearing Titsworth was found in contempt. He was ordered to pay a fine of $500 and go to jail until he complied with the December 23 order to disburse. Execution was stayed until February 9. Titsworth thereupon filed a petition for habeas corpus and application for stay in the Court of Appeal. That court took no action before expiration of the trial court's stay, and on the evening of February 9, Titsworth took up residence at the Imperial County jail. The next day Titsworth filed his petition for writ of habeas corpus and request for stay in this court. In the meantime, however, the Court of Appeal denied his petition and request; we therefore filed his petition and request as a petition for hearing. On February 11, we stayed both (1) enforcement of the order holding Titsworth in contempt, and (2) the imminent trial of Corenevsky, pending determination of all three petitions for hearing. We thereafter granted hearings in all three matters, and subsequently issued alternative writs of mandate in L.A. 31724 and L.A. 31723; we also issued an order to show cause directed to the Imperial Superior Court in L.A. 31722. We note parenthetically that in the course of these procedural maneuvers Corenevsky has been represented by no less than eight different attorneys, including three public defenders who later were hired by the district attorney's office. The district attorney subsequently recused himself because of the conflict; and the new county public defender, conceding inter alia that he had abandoned Corenevsky's defense, joined Corenevsky's motion in propria persona for appointment of new trial counsel and recusal of the public defender. New counsel was appointed to represent Corenevsky at trial, and we appointed appellate counsel to represent him in this court. The Attorney General has replaced the district attorney in the trial court, and also represents the People in these proceedings. Titsworth has at all times been represented by county counsel.