People v. Stewart

Opinion

KLINE, P. J.

In People v. Fosselman (1983) 33 Cal.3d 572 [189 Cal.Rptr. 855, 659 P.2d 1144], our Supreme Court held that a trial court may consider inadequate assistance of trial counsel as a basis for a motion for a new trial. (Id., at pp. 582-583.) Because in that case the motion was presented by newly retained counsel (id., at p. 578), the Supreme Court was not obliged to concern itself with the conflict that usually will arise when a defendant unable to retain a new attorney requests the one who represented him at trial to argue his own incompetence as a ground for new trial. This…