Opinion ID: 1351343
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Initial refusal to appoint Roth.

Text: (2) Defendant also claims the court abused its discretion when, at the arraignment hearing of May 17, 1982, it refused to appoint Andrew Roth as defendant's counsel. He relies on our decision in Harris v. Superior Court (1977) 19 Cal.3d 786 [140 Cal. Rptr. 318, 567 P.2d 750]. In that case the superior court judge, after receiving a declaration of conflict from the public defender, appointed Attorneys Ballachey and Mintz to represent defendants, despite the defendants' request for appointment of Attorneys Susan Jordan and Leonard Weinglass. Our opinion noted not only the subjective considerations  defendants' long relationship with counsel Jordan and Weinglass, and their confidence in those attorneys  but also objective considerations. Defendants had been members of an organization known as the Symbionese Liberation Army, and the charged crimes, as well as other alleged crimes, arose from the activities of that organization. Jordan and Weinglass had represented the defendants in related prosecutions arising from these activities and had an extensive background in the factual and legal issues likely to arise in the case in question. We therefore found the judge's refusal to appoint them an abuse of discretion. In response, the Attorney General argues that Harris is relevant only in cases in which the public defender is unavailable, so the court must choose between private counsel. The Attorney General points out that in Charlton v. Superior Court (1979) 93 Cal. App.3d 858 [156 Cal. Rptr. 107], the Court of Appeal interpreted the court's authority to appoint private counsel when the public defender is unavailable (§ 987.2) as precluding appointment of private counsel when the public defender is available. Its decision expressly distinguished Harris, supra, 19 Cal.3d 786, limiting that precedent to a case in which the court cannot appoint a public defender. (93 Cal. App.3d at p. 863.) Defendant argues that Charlton goes too far in limiting the trial court's discretion. Section 987.2 says the court may appoint private counsel when a public defender is unavailable; it does not say that this is the only circumstance under which appointment is permissible. If a case arose in which defendant was unable to cooperate with the public defender (see People v. Stankewitz (1990) 51 Cal.3d 72, 85 [270 Cal. Rptr. 817, 793 P.2d 23]), or in which appointment of private counsel would save considerable time and expense, defendant maintains that the trial court should have discretion to appoint private counsel. The present case does not require us to decide that question. Unlike Harris v. Superior Court, supra, 19 Cal.3d 786, in which Attorneys Jordan and Weinglass had represented defendants on similar cases arising from the same alleged conspiracy, and thus had extensive experience and knowledge relating to the charged crime, in the present case Roth had represented defendant only on the bank robbery appeal and on minor traffic matters, none of which had much relationship to the murder case at issue. And unlike Stankewitz, supra, 51 Cal.3d 72, there is no showing here that defendant suffered from a mental disorder that prevented him from assisting the public defender in a rational manner. Under these circumstances the trial court was not required to appoint Roth to represent defendant. [4]