In re Taylor CA2/4

BACKGROUND

We draw the following background from the writ petition Taylor filed in the Supreme Court, No. S284425, and the appellate record from Taylor’s direct appeal, on which both he and the Secretary rely in their filings. At this stage, we “accept the truth of the defendant’s allegations, including expert evidence and statistics, unless the allegations are conclusory, unsupported by the evidence presented in support of the claim, or demonstrably contradicted by the court’s own records.” (Finley v. Superior Court (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 12, 23 (Finley).) All quotations are rendered as they appear in the record.

I. Relevant Pretrial Proceedings

Taylor represented himself both prior to and during his trial. During pretrial proceedings before Judge Rosenblatt, Taylor, who is Black and Muslim, filed a motion for change of venue. Taylor asserted several grounds for the request, including his membership in “an organization called the ‘Moorish Islamic Impire of the West,’ which could cause arouse community hostility from the predominantly Christian and Jewish sects evolving the San Fernando Valley district” and the “innumerable stereotyping of Muslims” by “countless Sheriff…