People v. Zhang CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

Defendant Jiayi Zhang appeals from a judgment of conviction following a court trial, contending that the trial court erred by denying his request to withdraw his prior waiver of his right to a jury trial and that his counsel rendered ineffective assistance. We affirm the judgment as modified.

II. BACKGROUND

A. Information

On February 24, 2020, the Los Angeles County District Attorney charged defendant by information with assaulting a peace officer (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (c), count 1); hit and run resulting in injury to a person (Veh. Code, § 20001, subd. (b)(1), count 2); and hit and run resulting in property damage (Veh. Code, § 20002, subd. (a), count 3).

B. Waiver of Jury Trial

On November 3, 2020, defendant appeared before the master calendar court with his defense counsel and a Mandarin language interpreter. Defense counsel advised the court that the prosecution had made, and the defendant had rejected, a plea offer, but that “both sides are willing to waive jury for a four year lid; meaning, the most [defendant] could receive, if convicted by the court, would be four years.” The prosecution agreed that those were the terms of the agreement…