Opinion ID: 1215480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Motion to Set Aside Information

Text: Defendant's family retained an attorney who represented him at a preliminary examination in early March 1980. The magistrate found probable cause to hold defendant on all charges and two weeks later, an information was filed. One month after the preliminary examination, retained counsel withdrew, and the public defender was appointed. Subsequently defendant moved to set aside the information on the ground that his retained attorney rendered ineffective assistance at the preliminary examination. The motion was supported by an affidavit by the retained attorney attesting that he had never tried a homicide case or represented a client in a death penalty case, that although defendant exhibited bizarre behavior and was hospitalized by the authorities, counsel did not seek a psychiatric examination, and that he failed to render effective assistance. At the hearing on the motion to set aside the information, however, retained counsel painted a different picture. Counsel testified that his practice consisted of 25 percent criminal cases, that during 16 years of practice he handled numerous felony cases, including homicides, rapes, and child molestations, and that he had appeared at several hundred preliminary examinations and at about 100 felony trials. [16] When hired to represent defendant, counsel considered whether to move for a change in venue, inspected the physical evidence, and discussed the case with police investigators, defendant, and various members of defendant's family. Counsel did not visit the scene of the crime nor did he employ investigators to interview potential witnesses or consult experts to test the physical evidence. At the preliminary examination, the attorney stipulated to the admissibility and content of a necropsy report prepared by a doctor who was available for testimony at the hearing. Counsel cross-examined the fingerprint expert. Defendant also presented the testimony of three other criminal attorneys in support of his motion to set aside the information. After reviewing documents related to the case and the transcript of the preliminary examination, each of these witnesses was of the opinion that the retained counsel had rendered ineffective assistance. All agreed that defendant's case was thereby damaged, but only one witness insisted that a potentially meritorious defense was withdrawn within the meaning of People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal.3d 412 [152 Cal. Rptr. 732, 590 P.2d 859, 2 A.L.R.4th 1], and its progeny. [17] The court denied the motion to set aside the information. Defendant's subsequent petition for writ of mandate to compel the requested relief was summarily denied by the Court of Appeal, and this court and the United States Supreme Court each denied petitions to review the matter. (7) When a defendant is denied a substantial right at a preliminary examination, the commitment is deemed unlawful under section 995, and the information must be set aside. ( People v. Pompa-Ortiz (1980) 27 Cal.3d 519, 523 [165 Cal. Rptr. 851, 612 P.2d 941]; Jennings v. Superior Court (1967) 66 Cal.2d 867, 874 [59 Cal. Rptr. 440, 428 P.2d 304].) If a defendant is denied the assistance of counsel at the preliminary hearing, a substantial right has been denied. ( Jennings v. Superior Court, supra, 66 Cal.2d at p. 874.) The right to counsel includes the right to effective assistance of a reasonably competent attorney during the pretrial stage of a proceeding. ( People v. Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d at p. 423.) (8) Assuming that retained counsel's performance at the preliminary examination was inadequate, we find no reversible error. The standard of review for determining whether a substantial right was denied at a preliminary examination was set forth in Pompa-Ortiz, supra, 27 Cal.3d at page 529, in which we explained that if a defendant makes a timely motion in the trial court to set aside the information and shows that a substantial right was denied, the information must be set aside without a showing of prejudice. In a postconviction context, however, when an appellate court reviews the denial of a motion to dismiss under section 995, irregularities in the preliminary examination require reversal only if the defendant can show that the error resulted in an unfair trial or that he was otherwise prejudiced. ( Ibid. ) Defendant claims that counsel's inadequate assistance forced him to trial for his life in an inadequate state of preparation and thus denied him a fair trial. We have previously expressed reluctance to overturn a conviction on the ground that counsel was inadequately prepared for trial in the absence of a specific showing of what favorable evidence might have been obtained. ( People v. Jackson (1980) 28 Cal.3d 264, 291-292 [168 Cal. Rptr. 603, 618 P.2d 149].) Defendant attempts to show specific prejudice by pointing to the fact that the prosecution's case here was based largely on scientific evidence, and urges that it should have been fully explored at or prior to the preliminary examination. The record shows, however, that this evidence received extensive scrutiny at trial, and it does not appear that the stipulation to admit the necropsy report or counsel's failure to perform a further investigation affected the ability of trial counsel to advocate defendant's case at trial. Defendant has not therefore met the burden of showing prejudice as a result of his attorney's pretrial performance.