Kirkwood

Defendant was charged with misdemeanor drunk driving. (Veh. Code, § 23102, subd. (a).) The evidence at trial consisted solely of the police report which the court considered after the following submission:

Defense counsel informed this court that he advised defendant before trial of the rights defendant would be waiving by submitting the case on the police report, that his strategy was to rely on the state of the evidence in the report, and that he believed defendant would be acquitted. Counsel thought that defendant understood what was about to happen, but defendant informed him immediately after trial that he had not understood in advance the procedure to be followed. The People now urge that because counsel believed the evidence was insufficient and because defendant was advised of his rights outside the record, a complete waiver of his rights on the record was not required.

Defendant’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain his conviction has no merit. However, we need not discuss that issue in depth because the issue upon which the appeal turns is whether the submission was based upon an adequate waiver of defendant’s rights. Our inquiry focuses on…