Still

On October 18, 1965, Martin Urban Still entered a plea of guilty in the Justice Court of the Turlock Judicial District to a charge of driving a vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor in violation of Vehicle Code section 23102, subdivision (a). The docket entry states that Still was told that he was entitled to be represented by counsel but not that counsel would be appointed for him if he were indigent and did not have money to retain an attorney. The plea of guilty resulted in a $330 fine or in the alternative a sentence of one day in the county jail for each $5 of the unpaid fine. We assume that Still paid the fine because he had posted a $330 cash bond.

In December 1969, Still was charged with a second violation of Vehicle Code section 23102, subdivision (a), to which he also entered a plea of guilty. A few months later the California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an order suspending his driver’s license for one year, pursuant to Vehicle Code section 13352, subdivision (c).

On May 8,1970, Still petitioned the Superior Court of Stanislaus County for a writ of mandate to compel the respondent justice court to set aside the judgment entered on…