In Re Artis

Ancillary to his appeal in No. 1 Crim. 21660, defendant Leo J. Artis has petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus, alleging incompetence of counsel. (People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal.3d 412, 428 [ 152 Cal.Rptr. 732 , 590 P.2d 859 , 2 A.L.R.4th 1 ].)

The petition alleges that petitioner’s trial counsel failed to conduct a reasonable investigation which would have revealed the jail medical records documenting his claim that he had received an injection of a drug which had the effect of impairing mental alertness. (See the facts stated in our opinion on appeal, People v. Artis (Cal.App.).) It is further alleged that counsel failed to present to the court such documentation or other evidence of medication received by petitioner and its effects, permitting the trial court to conclude that “whether or not the jail people have given him some sort of medication for some illness or whatever, or what the effects of those were, there’s insufficient evidence before the court .. .. ”

The “‘“duty to investigate carefully all defenses of fact and of law that may be available to the defendant”’” (People v. Pope, supra, 23 Cal.3d at p. 425 ) encompasses the duty, in relation to a motion to…