Simmons

Petitioner, Betty Baxter Simmons, seeks a writ of mandate requiring respondent superior court to set aside its order denying her petition for a writ of mandate and directing it to issue a writ of mandate ordering the municipal court to permit persons charged with misdemeanors and released upon a promise to appear to thereafter appear through counsel, rather than in person, unless the circumstances of an individual case justify ordering an accused to appear in person.

The factual background giving rise to the petition herein is undisputed. Simmons was cited on April 25, 1987, for violation of Vehicle Code section 23152 (driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI)), a misdemeanor, and released upon her promise to appear on June 1, 1987, for arraignment. She contacted the public defender’s office and explained to a supervisor of misdemeanor deputies that she could not appear on June 1 because she had a nonrefundable airplane ticket to travel to North Carolina before June 1 and could not return to San Francisco until June 17, 1987. That office determined that Simmons appeared eligible for the services of the public defender and undertook to represent her.

Deputy public…