Cox

Statement of the Case

The People appeal from an order of the superior court granting respondent’s motion for a new trial. Respondent and codefendant Taylor had been convicted on July 19, 1985, of multiple counts of sex acts in violation of Penal Code section 288, subdivision (b) and Penal Code section 288a, subdivision (d). The codefendant’s motion for a new trial was granted because it had been discovered after trial that her “lawyer” was not in fact a licensed attorney. Thereafter, respondent’s motion for a new trial also was granted because respondent and the codefendant had cooperated at trial by presenting a joint defense and respondent’s lawyer had relied on the codefendant’s imposter lawyer in defending respondent. The trial court recognized that a “novel issue” was presented — whether the fact that a codefendant is represented by a layman posing as a lawyer so permeates the fairness of the defendant’s trial and the effectiveness of his counsel as to require a new trial.

After the new trial had been granted, respondent filed a Penal Code section 995 motion to set aside the information alleging that his right to counsel had also been violated at the preliminary…