People v. Bacci CA6

I. BACKGROUND

A. Bacci’s Underlying Convictions and First Appeal

In December 2019, prior to the underlying trial on his criminal charges, Bacci filled out and signed a form indicating he would like to waive counsel under Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806, 835 (Faretta). He also indicated to the trial court at a pretrial hearing that he would “like to proceed forward by invoking [his] constitutional right to self-representation” and that he would like to have a bench trial rather than a jury trial. At that time, Bacci told the trial court: “I’ve represented myself before and I’ve been certified court competent at the present time to stand trial.” The trial court then informed Bacci: “[I]f you’re going to be representing yourself at a bench trial, you’ll be representing yourself. [¶] . . . You’ll be held to the same standards as an attorney.” The court further warned Bacci, “[Y]ou aren’t going to get co-counsel or advisory counsel or any type of assistance from counsel.” After this advisement, Bacci withdrew his request to represent himself and consented to “let [defense counsel] assist me.” Represented by counsel, Bacci proceeded to trial by jury rather than a…