People v. Delacruz CA5

FACTS

On April 30, 2021, the Merced County District Attorney filed a complaint charging defendant with one count of making criminal threats. (Pen. Code, § 422.)1 At a hearing on May 19, 2021, defense counsel declared a doubt as to defendant’s competency. The court suspended criminal proceedings pursuant to section 1368 and appointed a Dr. Zimmerman to evaluate defendant. Dr. Zimmerman prepared a report. Based on the report, the court declared defendant incompetent to stand trial on July 2, 2021. On July 20, 2021, defendant filed a written Marsden2 motion. A declaration attached to the motion appears to have been preprinted, with blanks where defendant’s name was handwritten. The declaration had several preprinted grounds for the Marsden motion, with a checkbox next to each. Defendant checked the boxes next to paragraphs indicating: counsel refused to confer with defendant concerning preparation of the defense; counsel failed to communicate with defendant; counsel failed to perform investigation(s) critical and necessary to the defense; counsel failed to file a motion critical to the defense; counsel failed to present evidence critical to the defense; and counsel failed to declare…