Thomas

Petitioner, charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187), robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), and criminal conspiracy (Pen. Code, § 182), alleged to have been committed under circumstances invoking additional penalties (Pen. Code, § 12022.5), and under special circumstances invoking the death penalty (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subds. (a), (b)(3)(i)), seeks mandate to review an order of the respondent superior court which denied petitioner’s motion to proceed in propria persona. Petitioner contends that under Faretta v. California (decided June 30, 1975) 422 U.S. 806 [ 45 L.Ed.2d 562 , 95 S.Ct. 2525 ], a defendant in a state criminal proceeding has a constitutional right to proceed without counsel when he voluntarily and intelligently elects to do so.

In Faretta v. California, supra, the United States Supreme Court found such an implied right in the Sixth Amendment as made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment and held that by forcing Faretta to accept a state-appointed public defender against his will, the California courts deprived him of his constitutional right to conduct his own . defense.

Petitioner argued before the trial court that, like Faretta, he was entitled to…

I concur.

Because we are bound by the decisions of the United States Supreme Court on federal constitutional questions, I must concur in the result. However, in this instance I am more inclined to share the view expressed by Chief Justice Burger in his dissenting opinion in Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [ 45 L.Ed.2d 562 , 95 S.Ct. 2525 ],.namely, that the proper administration of justice is “ill-served, and the integrity of and public confidence in the system are undermined, when an easy conviction is obtained due to the defendant’s ill-advised decision to waive counsel.” (P. 839 [ 45 L.Ed.2d at p. 584 ].) The court itself recognized and identified the hazard of self-representation when it pointed out that “ ‘Even the intelligent and educated layman has small and sometimes no skill in the science of law. If charged with crime, he is incapable, generally, of determining for himself whether the indictment is good or bad. He is unfamiliar with the rules of evidence. Left without the aid of counsel he may be put on trial without a proper charge, and convicted upon incompetent evidence, or evidence irrelevant to the issue or otherwise inadmissible. He lacks both the skill…

Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Jack R. Winkler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Edward P. O'Brien, Assistant Attorney General, Derald E. Granberg and Clifford K. Thompson, Jr., Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party in Interest.

Victor D. Vertner as Amicus Curiae.

OPINION

TAYLOR, P.J.

Petitioner, charged with murder (Pen. Code, § 187), robbery (Pen. Code, § 211), and criminal conspiracy (Pen. Code, § 182), alleged to have been committed under circumstances invoking additional penalties (Pen. Code, § 12022.5), and under special circumstances invoking the death penalty (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subds. (a), (b)(3)(i)), seeks mandate to review an order of the respondent superior court which denied petitioner's motion to proceed in propria persona. Petitioner contends that under Faretta v. California (decided June 30, 1975) 422 U.S. 806 [ 45 L.Ed.2d 562 , 95 S.Ct. 2525 ], a defendant in a state criminal proceeding has a constitutional right to proceed without counsel when he voluntarily and intelligently elects to do so.

In Faretta v. California, supra , the United States Supreme Court found such an implied right in the Sixth Amendment as made applicable to the states by the…