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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
d not supply defendant with copies of police reports and other discovery material and did not play the hostage negotiations tapes for defendant; (6) defendant never desired to testify and was unable to do so effectively because of lack of access to relevant materials; (7) Bristoll did not supply Dr. Kania, a psychologist appointed to interview defendant, with necessary materials about the case, never contacted Dr. Kania to discuss the case, and did not use Dr. Kania as a defense witness; and (8) Bristoll failed to have his investigator interview three county jail inmates whom the prosecution had identified as potential penalty phase witnesses against defendant.
The court held a hearing on the motion out of the prosecutor's presence, at which it heard testimony from an investigator for Ames, two investigators for Bristoll, and Bristoll himself. In addition, defendant addressed the court directly. The substance of that testimony is discussed below. After further argument, the court denied the motion, finding that defendant had failed to show that Bristoll had acted incompetently or that there had been such a breakdown in communication between Bristoll and defendant as would jeopardize Bristol's ability to provide effective representation at the penalty phase.
2. Merits
A defendant seeking to discharge appointed counsel and substitute another attorney must establish either that appointed counsel is not providing adequate representation or "that defendant and counsel have become embroiled in such an irreconcilable conflict that ineffective representation is likely to result." ( People v. Crandell (1988) 46 Cal. 3d 833, 854 [251 Cal. Rptr. 227, 760 P.2d 423].) We agree with the trial court that defendant failed to establish either that Bristoll had rendered ineffective assistance at the guilt phase or that Bristoll's relationship with defendant had so broken down that Bristoll could not provide defendant with effective representation at the penalty phase.
Regarding Bristoll's alleged failure to investigate Sergeant Wolfley's alleged propensity for violence, the evidence presented at the hearing shows that Bristoll did a thorough and conscientious investigation. Before trial, defendant gave Bristoll and his investigative team the names of four potential witnesses: William Armstrong, football star Ronnie Lott, Cedric Davis, and Donald Woodson. Upon being interviewed, Armstrong denied all knowledge of Sergeant Wolfley. Repeated attempts to contact Lott through his agent were unsuccessful, but Bristoll learned from other sources that Lott was not acquainted with Sergeant Wolfley. After investigating the background of Cedric Davis, a decision was made not to interview him because he had been convicted of killing a policeman. Woodson was not interviewed because he was then in state prison.
Apart from this investigation of names supplied by defendant, Bristoll's investigators reviewed the file of official complaints against police officers and 10 years of newspaper articles. They also contacted the local chapter of the NAACP and consulted their contacts in the police department. Finally, Bristoll moved for disclosure of Sergeant Wolfley's personnel file.
Against this evidence of a thorough and professional investigation, defendant offered only insubstantial evidence that an even more exhaustive investigation would have yielded helpful evidence. Dennis Hall, an investigator hired to assist Ames on the motion to disqualify, testified that he interviewed Woodson, who gave him the names of some other individuals, one of whom claimed to have personal knowledge of Sergeant Wolfley's alleged propensity for violence. Hall testified that defendant had also given
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