Opinion ID: 1408550
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Trial Court's Failure to Consider the Appointment of Advisory Counsel Is Reversible Error.

Text: (1) The People concede that the trial judge erred in ruling that California law does not permit the appointment of advisory counsel. In People v. Mattson (1954) 51 Cal.2d 777 [336 P.2d 937], this court, after holding that a defendant was not entitled both to counsel and to represent himself, added: We are not saying that the trial court may not in its discretion, upon what it may determine to be good cause shown, ... permit a defendant who appears in propria persona to employ an attorney to sit by him and advise him during the presentation of the case in court, or even appoint an attorney (with the latter's consent) to render such advisory services to an indigent defendant who wishes to represent himself.... These matters are within the sound discretion of the trial judge, who is in a position to appraise the courtroom situation and determine what procedure will best promote orderly, prompt and just disposition of the cause. (P. 797.) California courts have frequently exercised their discretion to appoint advisory counsel. (See, e.g., People v. Linden (1959) 52 Cal.2d 1, 15 [338 P.2d 397]; People v. Bourland (1966) 247 Cal. App.2d 76, 86 [55 Cal. Rptr. 357]; compare Ligda v. Superior Court (1970) 5 Cal. App.3d 811, 826 [85 Cal. Rptr. 744], which upheld an order directing a public defender to serve as advisory counsel, with Chaleff v. Superior Court (1977) 69 Cal. App.3d 721, 725 [138 Cal. Rptr. 735] which held a public defender was not in contempt for refusing to so serve.) The federal courts also endorse the appointment of advisory counsel. In Mayberry v. Pennsylvania (1971) 400 U.S. 455, 467 [27 L.Ed.2d 532, 541, 91 S.Ct. 499], Chief Justice Burger in a concurring opinion commended the wisdom of the trial judge in having counsel remain in the case even in the limited role of a consultant. Four years later, when in Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L.Ed.2d 562, 95 S.Ct. 2525], the Supreme Court established the constitutional right of a defendant to represent himself, it carefully added that: Of course, a State may  even over objection by the accused  appoint a `standby counsel' to aid the accused if and when the accused requests help, and to be available to represent the accused in the event that termination of the defendant's self-representation is necessary. (P. 835, fn. 46 [45 L.Ed.2d at p. 581].) [6] Faretta cited United States v. Dougherty (D.C. Cir.1972) 473 F.2d 1113, 1125, in which the court recommended the appointment of an amicus curiae to assist the defendant; Dougherty in turn cited United States v. Spencer (2d Cir.1971) 439 F.2d 1047, 1051, which recommended offering defendant the assistance of appointed counsel available as a resource to the extent that the defendant may wish to make use of his services. (2) Mistakenly believing it had no authority to appoint advisory counsel, the trial court failed to exercise its discretion. That failure, in itself serious error, gains in significance because on the record in this case it would have been an abuse of discretion to deny the request for advisory counsel. This is a capital case. Such cases raise complex additional legal and factual issues beyond those raised in an ordinary felony trial. (See Keenan v. Superior Court (1982) 31 Cal.3d 424, 432 [180 Cal. Rptr. 489, 640 P.2d 108].) Accordingly the Legislature has enacted special legislation providing for the appointment of counsel (§ 987) and the hiring of investigators (§ 987.9) in capital cases. We construed that legislation in Keenan to permit the appointment of two counsel in a capital defense, noting that the difficulty of preparing for trial was compounded ... by the inherent problem present in any capital case of simultaneous preparation for a guilt and a penalty phase of the trial. (31 Cal.3d at p. 432.) [7] The present case, moreover, presented especially difficult problems. The case arose under the 1978 death penalty initiative, an enactment rife with constructional and constitutional difficulties, which had not yet been judicially interpreted. Bigelow was charged with four special circumstances. Two of these circumstances  murder for financial gain, and murder to perfect an escape, had never been judicially construed, and might arguably be inapplicable to defendant's act. The other two circumstances  felony murder based on kidnaping and robbery  raised the then unsettled question whether intent to kill was an essential element of the special circumstance. (See Carlos v. Superior Court (1983) 35 Cal.3d 131 [197 Cal. Rptr. 79, 672 P.2d 862].) The defendant facing trial in this complex capital case had only a ninth grade education. A Canadian, he was unfamiliar with California law and did not, for example, know whether and on what grounds a prospective juror could be challenged. Although he had been in court on several occasions, he had been represented by counsel on each occasion except once when he pled guilty to a minor offense. After extensive questioning, the trial judge told Bigelow that I'm going to have to insist that Mr. Barnett continue to represent you. You just don't know enough about the law.... [Y]ou seem to be a nice young fellow to me, and I don't want you hanging yourself. Although the court later realized that Bigelow's lack of legal knowledge did not prevent him from making an intelligent waiver of counsel, the court's initial conclusion that he was not competent to defend a capital case is unquestionably true. Under these circumstances we have no doubt that the trial court, had it realized it could appoint advisory counsel, would have exercised its discretion to do so. Had the court refused, we would find that action an abuse of discretion. (3a) The question remains whether the failure of the trial court to exercise its discretion and to appoint advisory counsel is reversible error. The Attorney General argues that it is not, pointing out that the trial judge from time to time offered Bigelow advice and assistance, and that Barnett helped Bigelow arrange for his brother and sister to appear as witnesses. On the other hand, no one explained to him how to select a jury in a capital case, how to object to the evidence of other crimes offered by the prosecution at the guilt phase (evidence which, as explained later in this opinion, should not have been admitted), or how to attack the special circumstance allegations. When the right to counsel is at stake courts generally do not attempt to assess prejudice by speculating as to what tactics could have been employed, or what objections raised, by a better represented or advised defendant. (4) The denial of the right to appointed counsel is prejudicial per se. ( Holloway v. Arkansas (1978) 435 U.S. 475, 489 [55 L.Ed.2d 426, 437, 98 S.Ct. 1173].) (5) The erroneous denial of the right of self-representation is also reversible error. ( People v. Joseph (1983) 34 Cal.3d 936, 946-948 [196 Cal. Rptr. 339, 671 P.2d 843] and cases there cited.) (3b) No cases have defined the test of prejudice for failure to exercise discretion concerning the appointment of advisory counsel, but when as here a refusal to so appoint would be an abuse of discretion, we believe the same rule of per se reversal should apply. Some decisions justify a rule of automatic reversal by emphasizing the fundamental character of the right to counsel. (E.g., Holloway v. Arkansas, supra, 435 U.S. 475, 489 [55 L.Ed.2d 426, 437].) That rationale is inapplicable to the present case, for Bigelow had no absolute right to advisory counsel (see People v. Mattson, supra, 51 Cal.2d 777, 795-796), but only to a considered exercise of judicial discretion. A second reason for a rule of per se reversal, however, applies fully in the present setting: the impossibility of assessing the effect of the absence of counsel upon the presentation of the case. Judicial opinions on analogous issues explain this latter reason. In People v. Joseph, supra, 34 Cal.3d 936, we held that a wrongful denial of the right of self-representation was prejudicial per se, noting that an assessment of why or how an accused's trial was disadvantaged by injecting an undesired attorney would require an impossibly speculative comparison between the accused's undisclosed pro se strategy and that of counsel. (P. 946.) In In re William F. (1974) 11 Cal.3d 249 [113 Cal. Rptr. 170, 520 P.2d 986], we held that denial of a defendant's right to have counsel present at closing argument was reversible per se, stating that [t]he compelling reason for the rule of prejudice per se is that no realistic measure of prejudice resulting from counsel's nonparticipation can be made when, because of the very absence thereof, the record fails to reflect what different direction the proceedings might have taken and what different results might have obtained. (P. 256.) Similarly in People v. Hosner (1975) 15 Cal.3d 60 [123 Cal. Rptr. 381, 538 P.2d 1141], we held that failure to furnish a retried defendant with a free transcript of a prior trial was automatically reversible: The denial of the transcript does not merely taint some specific items of evidence, leaving other items which might of their own force provide overwhelming evidence of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Rather, in the manner of the denial of the assistance of counsel, the denial of a transcript of a former trial infects all the evidence offered at the latter trial, for there is no way of knowing to what extent adroit counsel assisted by the transcript ... might have been able to impeach or rebut any given item of evidence. (P. 70, italics added.) The present case is also one in which an appellate court has no way to measure the prejudicial effect of error. What we know from the record is that Bigelow, representing himself, proved totally incompetent as a defense attorney, and that this trial of a capital case could rightly be described as a `farce or a sham.' ( People v. Ibarra (1963) 60 Cal.2d 460, 464 [34 Cal. Rptr. 863, 386 P.2d 487].) What we do not know is whether Bigelow, aided by advisory counsel, would have done any better. The most we could do would be to identify points in the trial where competent counsel might have advised Bigelow to do something different, wonder whether Bigelow would follow the advice, and speculate about the impact of the advice on the outcome of the trial. Even that effort would not disclose the possibility that counsel might advise Bigelow to seek out evidence and witnesses which do not appear in the present record. Trying to assess prejudice in this setting would amount to speculation running riot. ( People v. Hosner, supra, 15 Cal.3d 60, 70.) A rule of per se reversal is the only way to protect the right of defendant to a conscientious exercise of judicial discretion on the appointment of advisory counsel, and to vindicate the state's independent interest in the fairness and accuracy of a capital proceeding. ( People v. Chadd, supra, 28 Cal.3d 739, 752-753.)