Jones v. Superior Court

Opinion

HUFFMAN, J.

— In this case, we are asked to determine the propriety of imposing sanctions on a petition for writ of mandate and request for stay. Sanctions are warranted where counsel omits critical facts intending to create a sense of emergency solely for delay. Because, however, we believe the omissions here were unintended, a product of time pressures combined with short-sighted advocacy, we refrain from imposing sanctions.

Factual and Procedural Background

This petition involves a death penalty case where Principal Attorney Deborah Carson (Carson), a deputy alternate public defender…