In Re Dellasala

Charged in a municipal court case numbered 48019 with being intoxicated in a public place in violation of Penal Code section 647, subdivision (f), Anthony J. Dellasala requested appointment of an attorney and a jury trial. The court “denied appointed counsel on the ground the offense wasn’t of a sufficiently serious nature.” The charge was thereafter tried before a jury, in another department of the court, and in the absence of Dellasala as permitted by Penal Code section 1043 in a misdemeanor case, Dellasala was found guilty, and was thereafter sentenced “to 180 days in County Jail with 120 suspended for three years on certain conditions.”

By his “Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus and Prohibition” to the superior court, Dellasala sought only to have his sentence set aside on the authority of Argersinger v. Hamlin, 407 U.S. 25 [ 32 L.Ed.2d 530 , 92 S.Ct. 2006 ]. He claimed no fault in his trial or conviction. The superior court by a “Judgment” granted the petition, ruling that: “The defendant cannot be imprisoned in case No. 48019; sentence must be restricted to that applicable to infractions. Except as stated herein, any restraint on action in case No. 48019 is…