Moses Poole v. Cletus J. Fitzharris, Superintendent

Appellant is a California state prisoner confined for an indeterminate period of five years to life under a conviction of the offense of first degree robbery. Cal. Pen.Code §§ 211, 211a, 213. The state preferred the original charge by information, and a preliminary hearing was conducted to determine the existence of probable cause for detention and subsequent trial. Cal.Pen.Code § 860. Counsel for the accused at this stage of the proceedings was a deputy public defender of Los Angeles County, California, and during the preliminary hearing, he cross-examined the victim of the alleged burglary, the only witness produced by the state for proof of probable cause. Another person, one Wesley, was accused of having participated with appellant in the same offense, and the record makes it quite clear that Wesley was the principal offender. A preliminary hearing was conducted in his case also, and there was cross-examination which developed some inconsistency between the testimony given by the state witnesses in this hearing and that presented by the victim in the preliminary hearing in appellant’s case.

Appellant subsequently employed an attorney of his own selection to represent him at…