Kim

Taik Kim and Young Kim, husband and wife, owned a market next door to a pizzeria-delicatessen owned by Silvio Orellana and his brother Luis Orellana. For two years Taik asked the Orellanas to cease selling products in competition with those sold at the Kims’ market. On the morning of July 8, 1978, Taik went to the pizzeria-delicatessen to make another such request. As Taik stood on the sidewalk outside of the open door of the Orellanas’ establishment, Silvio Orellana went to the cash register and obtained a pistol, intending to fire at the floor; instead he shot Taik in the stomach. The Kims sued the Orellana brothers for damages for personal injuries and loss of consortium. Following a nonjury trial judgment was entered in favor of plaintiffs and against defendant Silvio Orellana for $75,000 compensatory damages and $10,000 punitive damages. Silvio appeals from the judgment.

Appellant contends that the judgment must be reversed because he was denied a fair trial (and hence due process) by the misconduct of his counsel. Among the specific instances of such misconduct cited by appellant are the following: his attorney failed to plead self-defense as an affirmative…