Fatone

Sandra Kay Fatone was convicted of attempted murder with use of a firearm and assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, §§ 664/187, 12022.5, and 245, subd. (a)). We must reverse because the cumulative impact of the trial court’s consistent and unjustified abuse of defense counsel before the jury, combined with a number of mistaken legal rulings, deprived the defendant of the basic right to a fair and impartial trial.

I

Sandra and Jerry William Fatone were married in 1963 and are the parents of two sons who are now teenagers. The marriage was a stormy one; and, according to Sandra, Jerry often physically abused her and the children. Several times she was hospitalized for mental problems and finally began proceedings to obtain a dissolution in 1974. The final judgment was entered in 1976, with custody of the children awarded to Sandra.

The dissolution was not the end of the less than ideal relationship between the parents, however; it primarily served as the introduction to a new series of bouts, in and out of court. For example, they wrangled over a home inherited by Sandra and her sons from her mother. Jerry, acting in his capacity as trustee for the boys’ interest in…