Khoury

Appeal from the superior court's denial of a writ of mandate directing the municipal court to dismiss a misdemeanor prosecution against Lawrence Khoury, and to recall a bench warrant it issued for his arrest when he failed to appear for trial. We affirm.

The police report states that Lawrence Khoury and his codefendant Robert Kalina were arrested in Griffith Park on the afternoon of December 9, 1977, by two Los Angeles police officers, who observed defendants engaging in oral copulation on one of the park’s hiking trails. On December 21 a misdemeanor complaint was filed charging defendants with committing a lewd act in public. (Pen. Code, § 647, subd. (a).) On January 23, 1978, Khoury was arraigned and pleaded not guilty. Trial was set for February 27 in the master calendar division of the Los Angeles Municipal Court. Khoury, released on his own recognizance, executed a written promise to appear.

On the morning of February 27 Khoury, who had recently been released from the hospital, appeared in the master calendar division with his attorney, a deputy public defender. However, before the matter was called for assignment to another courtroom for trial, Khoury informed his…