In Re Render

271 Cal. App. 2d 423, 76 Cal. Rptr. 522, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2398
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedApril 3, 1969
DocketCrim. 4898
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 271 Cal. App. 2d 423 (In Re Render) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Render, 271 Cal. App. 2d 423, 76 Cal. Rptr. 522, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2398 (Cal. Ct. App. 1969).

Opinion

FRIEDMAN, Acting P. J.

In December 1958 petitioner was convicted in San Francisco of three counts of heroin sale (former Health & Saf. Code, § 11500) and sentenced to three consecutive terms. He admitted three prior convictions: a 1952 narcotics conviction in Alameda County for violating Health and Safety Code section 11721 (a misdemeanor) and two theft convictions.

In this habeas corpus proceeding he attacks the validity of his 1952 Alameda County conviction, claiming impairment of his constitutionally protected right to counsel. As the provisions of the Health and Safety Code read in 1958, the 1952 narcotics conviction served to augment the minimum period of each of the three consecutive terms imposed by the San Francisco court in 1958. A constitutionally invalid prior conviction used to augment a current term of imprisonment is subject to collateral attack by habeas corpus. (In re Woods, 64 Cal.2d 3, 5 [48 Cal.Rptr. 689, 409 P.2d 913].) Petitioner contends that in December 1952, as he stood before the Municipal Court of the Oakland-Piedmont Judicial District, Alameda County, he was indigent, never apprised of his right to publicly supplied legal representation and did not effectively waive that right before his guilty plea.

It is now settled that the guarantee of counsel extends to misdemeanor cases in justice or other inferior courts; that the defendant must be made fully aware of his right to counsel; that the court must not only advise him of it, but must also inform him that the court will provide an attorney if he cannot afford one; that these are constitutional demands. (In re Smiley, 66 Cal.2d 606, 614-615 [58 Cal.Rptr. 579, 427 P.2d 179].) In order to establish a waiver of counsel, the record must show that the defendant was informed of his right to counsel or that he knew of his right and intelligently and knowingly waived it. (People v. Harris, 67 Cal.2d 866, 869 [64 Cal.Rptr. 313, 434 P.2d 609].) Although these constitutional demands were not completely articulated in 1952, they are fully retroactive. (In re Woods, supra, 64 Cal.2d at pp. 5-6.)

The minutes of the Oakland-Piedmont Judicial District show that on December 10, 1952, petitioner appeared before Municipal Judge Edward J. Smith; that he was *426 “instructed;” that he entered a plea of guilty and was sentenced to serve 180 days in the county jail. The entry closes with the phrase: “No attorney of record.”

Although verified declarations describing the arraigning judge’s standard practices have been submitted (see In re Johnson, 62 Cal.2d 325, 331 [42 Cal.Rptr. 228, 398 P.2d 420]), these declarations fall short of demonstrating that the judge habitually offered counsel to misdemeanor defendants. The court is satisfied, nevertheless, that petitioner had independent knowledge of the availability of the public defender to defend him at his request. In his petition and traverse, petitioner alleges the judge’s failure to advise him of his right to counsel, but nowhere states that he himself was ignorant of the availability of publicly supplied counsel. A defendant who challenges his prior conviction on habeas corpus has the burden of making adequate allegations of nonrepresentation or nonwaiver. (People v. Coffey, 67 Cal.2d 204, 215 [60 Cal.Rptr. 457, 430 P.2d 15]; People v. Merriam, 66 Cal.2d 390, 397 [58 Cal.Rptr. 1, 426 P.2d 161]; People v. Pineda, 253 Cal.App.2d 443, 479 [61 Cal.Rptr. 144]; see also In re Smiley, supra, 66 Cal.2d at pp. 617-618.) Petitioner’s failure to allege ignorance of his right to counsel is a significant factor.

The Attorney General points out that petitioner’s record includes six criminal convictions preceding the December 1952 narcotics charge, some in San Francisco, some in Oakland. One of these, like the narcotics conviction, occurred in the Oakland-Piedmont Municipal Court. In July 1952, approximately five months before the offense in issue, he appeared before that court represented by the public defender of Alameda County and entered a plea of guilty to a petty theft charge. A request book was available for county jail inmates who wished to see the public defender.

From petitioner’s representation by the public defender on a recent misdemeanor charge in the same court and from his failure to allege his own ignorance, the court draws the inference that before his plea of guilty petitioner had independent knowledge of the availability of publicly supplied legal counsel. Nevertheless, his waiver of counsel was not effective unless it was intelligent and knowing. (In re Smiley, supra, 66 Cal.2d at p. 621.) The courts indulge in every reasonable presumption against the waiver; it will not be presumed from a silent record; a plea of guilty is not the equivalent of an intelligent and knowing waiver. (In re *427 Smiley, supra, 66 Cal.2d at p. 621; In re Johnson, supra, 62 Cal.2d at pp. 333-334.)

Ascertainment of an intelligent waiver of counsel requires inquiry into the particular circumstances of the case, including the background, experience and conduct of the accused; the central question is whether the accused understands the nature and effect of his waiver in terms of the offense charged against him, the possible defenses and possible punishment. (In re Johnson, supra, 62 Cal.2d at p. 335.) When the validity of a prior conviction depends upon the effectiveness of the waiver, an evidentiary hearing may be necessary. (In re Woods, supra, 64 Cal.2d at pp. 9-11.)

That kind of hearing is not necessary here. From the information available, including petitioner’s extensive criminal record, it might be possible to conclude that he was aware of the nature of the charge against him. No such conclusion can be drawn as to the possible defenses. In 1952 he stood charged with a violation of Health and Safety Code section 11721, which at that time declared; “No person shall unlawfully use or be addicted to the unlawful use of narcotics.” Ten years later, in 1962, the federal Supreme Court invalidated that portion of section 11721 which prohibited addiction, holding that it imposed cruel and unusual punishment of a status or sickness. (Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 [8 L.Ed.2d 758, 82 S.Ct. 1417].)

Although the 1952 misdemeanor complaint against petitioner is unavailable, the verified declaration of a member of the Alameda County District Attorney’s staff states that the standard practice in charging violations of section 11721 in 1952 was to plead use and addiction in the conjunctive.

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Bluebook (online)
271 Cal. App. 2d 423, 76 Cal. Rptr. 522, 1969 Cal. App. LEXIS 2398, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-render-calctapp-1969.