Opinion ID: 1215322
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: January hearings

Text: The appointment of counsel issue was again discussed in early January 1984, before a different judge. The first of these hearings was off the record, [7] and defendant was not present. Hanson stated that although he did not solicit appointment as counsel for defendant, he would accept such an appointment. The Monterey County Public Defender noted that Hanson was familiar with the case and with defendant, because he had represented defendant in his appeal from the first judgment. In addition, the public defender suggested it would be a significant burden on his staff, and potentially a financial burden on the county, if his office were required to take defendant's case. The prosecutor opposed Hanson's appointment, citing a possible conflict of interest. He disclosed that Hanson had (on Plankington's behalf  see post, fn. 9) elicited defendant's confession to the arson, and that the prosecution intended again to introduce evidence of defendant's involvement in the arson at the penalty trial. A conflict could arise, the prosecutor suggested, if defendant chose to take the stand during the penalty phase in order to deny involvement in the arson. The prosecutor stated that at that point Hanson might be called as a witness to impeach defendant's testimony. Hanson did not contest these factual statements. Instead, he asserted the arson evidence was inadmissible because defendant had not been convicted of that crime. [8] In addition, he argued the confession was inadmissible because defendant had received full immunity in exchange for his testimony about the arson in the federal criminal proceedings. Later that day a second hearing was held, and defendant was present. The public defender repeated his assertion that Hanson was most familiar with the case, and submitted defendant's declaration, asking that Hanson be appointed his counsel. The court asked defendant if he wanted Hanson to be his counsel, and defendant responded affirmatively. After asking Hanson to state his qualifications, the court appointed Hanson defendant's counsel. Hanson then noted that the district attorney had suggested he (Hanson) might be called as a witness, but he asserted other witnesses could provide the same information. In addition, he reiterated his belief that defendant's testimony in the intervening federal criminal trial was protected from disclosure because defendant had been granted immunity for his testimony. The district attorney stated he did not necessarily intend to call Hanson as a witness. But, he noted, he had requested the transcripts from the federal criminal trial, and depending on what he learned from those transcripts his strategy might change. The parties then discussed how Hanson's name could be excluded from testimony heard by the jury. This exchange terminated when the trial court stated it thought any problem could be evaluated later, and resolved satisfactorily.