Townsel v. Superior Court

Opinion

WERDEGAR, J.

Petitioner Anthony Letrice Townsel was sentenced to death by the Madera County Superior Court on September 13, 1991, following his conviction of two counts of murder and other offenses; his automatic *1087appeal (People v. Townsel, S022998)1 is currently pending before this court. Petitioner seeks relief from an order of respondent superior court, entered sua sponte, prohibiting his appellate counsel from contacting trial jurors without first obtaining that court’s approval. The question is whether the trial court had authority to issue the order and, if so, whether it abused…