Ferrel v. Superior Court

Opinion

MANUEL, J.

Alejandro Ramirez Ferrel is presently incarcerated in the Los Angeles County jail awaiting trial on various felony charges.

1

By this petition for writ of mandate, he seeks to compel the Los Angeles County Superior Court to set aside its order revoking his right to represent himself and to enter a new order permitting him to represent himself on these charges.

Petitioner has, since the initiation of the criminal proceedings against him, sought to proceed in propria persona (hereinafter referred to as pro. per.). His motion to this effect was granted by the municipal court, and he represented himself at the preliminary hearing. In respondent superior court petitioner renewed his motion to proceed in pro per. Respondent granted this motion and ordered that petitioner be allowed pro. per. privileges at the county jail.

2

Six months later, in November

[891]

1976, after petitioner’s repeated violation of jail rules involving abuse of his pro. per. privileges,

3

these privileges were ordered suspended. Thereafter, at a hearing before respondent, over objection of the public defender who had been appointed to represent petitioner solely for the purposes of the hearing, respondent terminated petitioner’s pro. per. status and appointed the public defender to represent him at trial.

A defendant in a criminal proceeding has a federal constitutional right to represent himself without counsel if, upon timely motion

(People

v.

Windham

(1977) 19 Cal.3d 121 [137 Cal.Rptr. 8, 560 P.2d 1187]), the trial court determines that he voluntarily and intelligently elects to do so

(Faretta