Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinions in People v. Ghobrial and People v. Farwell, which were both argued on the April calendar. (Briefs here; oral argument videos here and here.)
Ghobrial is an automatic direct appeal from an April 2002 judgment of death. One issue concerns whether the defendant was competent to stand trial. (Third District Court of Appeal Justice Kathleen Butz is the pro tem.)
Farwell raises these questions: (1) Does the “totality of the circumstances” test apply in determining whether a defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived his constitutional rights before stipulating to an offense, if the record indicates that the trial court did not advise the defendant or obtain his waiver of rights at the time of the stipulation? (2) Under this test, are references to a defendant’s constitutional rights during earlier stages of the proceedings and the defendant’s criminal history sufficient to support the conclusion that the defendant knowingly and voluntarily waived those rights when entering into to the stipulation? (Second District, Division Four, Justice Audrey Collins is the pro tem.)
The opinions can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.
