Killpatrick v. Superior Court

The petitions for certiorari in these cases grow out of contempt proceedings in the domestic relations department of the trial court where, in each proceeding, petitioner was adjudged in contempt of court and sentenced to jail for his asserted wilful failure to comply with a prior order of the court for the support of his former wife and children. None of the petitioners had counsel. In each case the prosecutor * called the petitioner as a witness and both he and the judge proceeded to interrogate him. It appears that the trial court did not advise the petitioners of their constitutional…