People v. Petrakis CA6

I. BACKGROUND

The Santa Clara County District Attorney charged Petrakis with second degree robbery (Pen. Code,1 § 212.5, subd. (c); count 1) and threatening to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury (§ 422, subd. (a); count 2). The district attorney

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. also alleged that Petrakis personally used a knife while committing the charged offenses (§ 12022, subd. (b)(1)). The evidence introduced at trial was that Petrakis shoplifted razors and insoles at a Grocery Outlet store and, once confronted by the store manager and two other employees in the parking lot, brandished a knife that he threatened to use against the employees to make his escape. Police apprehended Petrakis near the store and recovered the stolen merchandise and a knife. A. Faretta Requests

The public defender represented Petrakis throughout the proceedings, despite Petrakis’s four requests to substitute counsel under People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden). Petrakis first moved to represent himself on January 3, 2023, about two months before trial.2 Petrakis completed a written Faretta waiver and told the trial court that he…