In Re Cowans

On June 9, 1964, petitioner, upon his plea of guilty, was convicted of assault with intent to commit murder (Pen. Code, § 217). The court denied probation and ordered petitioner’s imprisonment. We issued an order to show cause upon petitioner’s allegations that his plea of guilty resulted from confessions obtained without advising him of his right to- remain silent and to counsel, and from the coercion exercised by the district attorney and petitioner’s court-appointed counsel. We appointed the Honorable Victor Gillespie, Judge of the Superior Court of Imperial County, to act as referee.

Judge Gillespie conducted an evidentiary hearing and submitted his report. He found that petitioner made incriminating statements to Sergeant McCarty of the Ventura Sheriff’s Department, without having first been advised of his right to counsel or to remain silent. He also found that petitioner gave incriminating statements to two court-appointed psychiatrists without having been advised of his right of silence. Judge Gillespie found, however, that petitioner’s plea of guilty was neither the product of such incriminating statements nor of coercion exerted by either counsel or by any law…