P. v. Porter
Appellant and a codefendant, Fred Brown, were charged with the murder of Byron Lee (count 1), the attempted premeditated murder of Glover H. (count 2), and the attempted murder of Kerry P. (count 3), plus firearms and criminal street gang allegations. Appellant and Brown had separate jury trials. Brown was tried first. He was convicted of all charges. Court affirmed his conviction in a nonpublished opinion. (People v. Brown (Aug. 29, 2008, B201909).) Appellants jury found him guilty on count 1 of the second degree murder of Lee with true findings on the gang and firearms allegations. On count 3, he was convicted of attempted murder with true findings on the gang and firearms allegations and on premeditation. The jury deadlocked on count 2, which was later dismissed on the Peoples motion. Appellant was sentenced on counts 1 and 3 to a total of 55 years to life in prison, plus 20 years. Appellants sole contention is that the trial court erred when it denied his motion under Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 (Faretta). The Faretta motion was made on the day of trial during a hearing on appellants motion to substitute counsel under People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden). The trial court denied the motion on the ground it was untimely. Court find no abuse of discretion in that denial and affirm.
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