Noriega

Before trial, and over defendant’s objection, the trial court replaced defendant’s appointed counsel, the public defender, because of a perceived conflict of interest arising from the public defender’s previous representation of a potential prosecution witness in defendant’s case. A jury convicted defendant, and he appealed. A divided Court of Appeal panel reversed the judgment of conviction.

All three justices agreed that the trial court’s replacement of appointed counsel did not violate defendant’s right to counsel, or to counsel of choice, under the federal Constitution’s Sixth Amendment; but they concluded *520 that the replacement violated defendant’s right to counsel under our state Constitution, and that under state statutory law the replacement was an abuse of the trial court’s discretion. In addition, a two-justice majority held that the replacement of counsel violated defendant’s due process right under the federal Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, and that this error required automatic reversal. The third justice, however, was of the view that the error was harmless and that the judgment of conviction should be affirmed.

We granted the Attorney General’s…

The majority concludes the trial court did not violate defendant Daniel Loreto Noriega’s constitutional rights (and did not prejudicially violate his statutory rights) when, over his objection, it removed his appointed attorney and replaced him with another attorney. Because I conclude the trial court’s action violated defendant’s right to counsel under article I, section 15 of the California Constitution, I dissent.

I

The majority provides the reader with a brief statement of facts it deems “pertinent” (maj. opn., ante, at p. 520), but I believe a fuller statement is helpful to understand what happened below. Defendant Noriega and codefendants Manuel Ortega Paredes and Juan Diego Vasquez jointly conspired to collect an unpaid drug debt from Cesar Cortez. Paredes armed himself with an assault rifle, but Vasquez warned them not to do anything “stupid.” When Noriega and Paredes drove off to Cortez’s house to collect the debt, Vasquez did not accompany them. Noriega and Paredes arrived at Cortez’s house and killed him over the unpaid debt. Noriega, Paredes and Vasquez were charged jointly for these crimes. The trial court appointed James Ashworth, a deputy public defender in the…

Before trial, and over defendant's objection, the trial court replaced defendant's appointed counsel, the public defender, because of a perceived conflict of interest arising from the public defender's previous representation of a potential prosecution witness in defendant's case. A jury convicted defendant, and he appealed. A divided Court of Appeal panel reversed the judgment of conviction.

All three justices agreed that the trial court's replacement of appointed counsel did not violate defendant's right to counsel, or to counsel of choice, under the federal Constitution's Sixth Amendment; but they concluded that the replacement violated defendant's right to counsel under our state Constitution, and that under state statutory law the replacement was an abuse of the trial court's discretion. In addition, a two-justice majority held that the replacement of counsel violated defendant's due process right under the federal Constitution's Fifth Amendment, and that this error required automatic reversal. The third justice, however, was of the view that the error was harmless and that the judgment of conviction should be affirmed.

We granted the Attorney General's…