People v. Tyner CA2/7

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted Chaumon Tyner of first degree murder, animal cruelty, and arson, and the trial court found true the allegation Tyner had a prior serious felony conviction. Tyner argues that the trial court deprived him of his right to represent himself and that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. We conclude that Tyner’s three motions to represent himself were untimely and that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying them. We also conclude that the record does not show why counsel for Tyner acted or failed to act in the ways Tyner asserts were ineffective and that there may have been tactical reasons for the choices made by Tyner’s counsel. Therefore, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Tyner Kills Ronnie Wall in Her Apartment and Sets Several Fires Tyner met Ronnie Wall through an online dating site. They had been dating for about six weeks when Wall’s son visited her on Saturday, March 16, 2019, at her apartment in Pomona. After spending the day with her son, Wall drove him to the train station in Claremont, where she dropped him off and picked up Tyner, who claimed to live in Venice. Tyner and Wall intended to…