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Olney v. Municipal Court for El Cajon Judicial District of San Diego County7/2/1982
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION ONE
No. 26054
1982.CA.40528 ; 184 Cal. Rptr. 78; 133 Cal. App. 3d 455
July 2, 1982
RANDY OLNEY, PLAINTIFF AND RESPONDENT,
v.
THE MUNICIPAL COURT FOR THE EL CAJON JUDICIAL DISTRICT OF SAN DIEGO COUNTY, DEFENDANT AND APPELLANT
Superior Court of San Diego County, No. 467713, Carlos A. Cazares, Judge.
Donald L. Clark, County Counsel, and Lloyd M. Harmon, Jr., Chief Deputy County Counsel, for Defendant and Appellant.
Tom Adler for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Nelson P. Brav and Peter S. Doft as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.
Opinion by Work, J., with Wiener, Acting P. J., and Reed, J., concurring.
Work
The Municipal Court of El Cajon Judicial District (Municipal Court) appeals a judgment granting a peremptory writ of
mandate commanding the municipal court to set aside its blanket policy of requiring misdemeanor defendants to personally appear at every readiness and sentencing hearing and, instead, allow them to appear through their attorneys unless the specific facts and circumstances of an individual case justify ordering a defendant to make a personal appearance. Municipal court also appeals the award of attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. We conclude the writ and the attorney fees award are proper and affirm the judgment.
Factual and Procedural Background
Olney was charged with two misdemeanor offenses, driving under the influence of alcohol (case no. C01313) and being under the influence of alcohol in a public place (case no. C99467). Olney's counsel, appearing on his behalf and in his absence, entered a plea of not guilty in case no. C99467. A readiness conference was set on January 27, 1981, later continued to February 20, 1981. On February 6, 1981, his counsel, appearing again for him in his absence, entered a plea of not guilty in case no. C01313. A readiness conference was then set for February 20, 1981, in order to consolidate the two matters. At arraignment in both cases, counsel was required to sign a form providing: "Defendant Must be Personally Present at the Readiness Hearing Unless He Resides Out of the County. He Must Also Be Present at the Trial." At the continued conference on February 27, 1981, Olney's counsel appeared again for him in his absence and entered negotiated pleas to reckless driving (case no. C01313) and being under the influence of alcohol in a public place (case no. C99467). He represented to the court his client had authorized him to represent his interests in entering the pleas and sentencing. The court refused to sentence Olney in absentia, stating it was the uniform practice of the court to require the presence of defendants at sentencing and ordering Olney to be present at sentencing scheduled for April 10, 1981.
On March 25, 1981, Olney petitioned for writ of mandate on behalf of himself and all others similarly situated, to compel the Municipal Court to allow him and all others within his class to appear before it solely through their counsel and without the necessity for personal appearance
in misdemeanor proceedings. (1) (See fn. 3.) Apparently an alternative writ of mandate and stay order was issued because on June 8, 1981, the superior court issued a peremptory writ of mandate commandi
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