Anthony Paul Maxwell v. G. W. Sumner, Warden, San Quentin Prison

This is an appeal by the Warden of San Quentin prison from an order of the district court granting appellee Anthony Paul Maxwell’s petition for writ of habeas corpus.

In July, 1975, Maxwell was convicted in California of robbery and assault with a deadly weapon. Maxwell appealed his conviction .to the California Court .of Appeal, claiming, inter alia, that the trial court erred in denying his motion to proceed in propria persona. After the Court of Appeal affirmed his conviction, Maxwell unsuccessfully petitioned for a hearing in the California Supreme Court.

Maxwell then raised his self-representation claim in a petition to the California Supreme Court for a writ of habeas corpus. The petition was denied with a citation to In re Waitreus, 62 Cal.2d 218, 225 , 397 P.2d 1001, 1005 , 42 Cal.Rptr. 9, 13 , cert. denied, 382 U.S. 853 , 86 S.Ct. 103 , 15 L.Ed.2d 92 (1965). The instant petition followed. After reviewing the record, the district court ruled that the state trial court erred in denying Maxwell’s motion to proceed in propria persona. The district court found that Maxwell’s request for self-representation was neither “outlandish” nor made for the purpose of delay, as the…