People v. Hernandez CA1/5

DISCUSSION

I. No Sixth Amendment Violation.

Defendant claims the trial court violated her right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment of the federal Constitution when it denied her request for a continuance of trial for health reasons. On appeal, she argues there was good cause to grant a continuance under section 1050, subdivision (e). We conclude, however, defendant forfeited this claim when, in open court, she knowingly and voluntarily waived her jury trial rights. We begin with the relevant facts. The charged crimes occurred in May 2019. In June 2019, defense counsel requested a continuance for a “couple weeks” to permit defendant to retain private counsel, advising the court, “This would be my last request.” The court put the matter over until July 9, 2019, at which time she entered a not guilty plea. A preliminary hearing then went forward on July 30, 2019.

2These children were later interviewed about the incident by Child Protective Services.

3 When the matter came up for trial, defendant was 76 years old and suffering from health issues that required several more continuances. Most significant, defendant had open heart surgery in early 2020. Afterward, on March…