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27 Stan L. Rev. 73 (1974-1975)
An Indigent's Right to the Attorney of His Choice

handle is hein.journals/stflr27 and id is 91 raw text is: An Indigent's Right to the Attorney of His Choice Peter W. Tague* In Drumgo v. Superior Court' the California Supreme Court reversed a court of appeals decision that might have become one of the most impor- tant cases involving an indigent criminal defendant's right to counsel since Gideon v. Wainwright.a The court of appeals had granted a writ of man- date ordering a trial judge to replace court-chosen counsel with an attorney requested by an indigent defendant. The decision was apparently the first of its kind in the country and, although carefully limited to its facts, had potentially far-reaching significance. In reversing, the Supreme Court not only approved the action of the trial court judge in Drumgo, but also indi- rectly sanctioned similar court action in three other widely publicized, re- cent homicide trials in California.' I. BACKcGROUND A. The Factual Setting Drumgo arose from an alleged escape attempt by George Jackson, an inmate in San Quentin prison, that resulted in the deaths of Jackson, two *A.B. 1965, Harvard College; J.D. 1969, University of Michigan Law School; member of the California, New York and Washington, D.C. bars. 1. 8 Cal. 3d 930, 506 P.2d o0E7L, i0E6L Cal. Rptr. 631, cert. denied, 414 U.S. 979 (1973), vacating 103 Cal. Rptr. oo (xst Dist. 1972). 2. 372 U.S. 335 (1963) (the landmark case holding that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment demanded the appointment of attorneys for indigents in state felony proceedings). 3. The three homicide cases were People v. Allen, Cr. No. 2725 (Super Ct., Monterey Cty., May 27, 3971) (hereinafter the Soledad 7); People v. Gibson, Cr. No. 4X50 (Super. Ct., Main Cty., April 18, 1973); and People v. Rios, Cr. No. 75r29 (Super. Ct., San Fran. Cty., Nov. 7, 1970) (hereinafter Los Siete). Because all were fascinating cases, each deserves some discussion. The Soledad 7 were seven black prison inmates charged with murdering a white guard in Soledad prison in California on July 13, 1970. They objected to the attorneys chosen by the trial court and asked that several particular attorneys be appointed in their stead. (The court was prepared to appoint one of the attorneys the defendants requested-he had initially represented all seven with- out appointment before conflicts of interest surfaced that required representation by separate attorneys.) The court refused the requests, although it would have permitted the attorneys to enter the case if they would have done so without appointment and therefore without fee. Reporter's Transcript, Nov. 8, 1970, at 37-63. Ultimately the prosecution dropped the charges against three defendants and the trial court later dismissed the charges against the remaining three defendants. In People v. Gibson, two defendants, inmates at San Quentin prison, were convicted of murder- ing a guard during an abortive attempt to kill a hospitalized inmate who had apparendy been willing to testify for the prosecution in the Soledad 7 trial. The trial court initially denied the defendants' request for appointment of particular attorneys, but then reversed itself and honored their request after the court of appeals decided Drumgo. Conversation with Richard Hodge, Mar. 20, 1972 (at- torney requested by one of the indigents). In Los Siete, sLx Spanish-speaking youths were acquitted of charges of killing a San Francisco policeman following a 37-week trial. S.F. Chronicle, Nov. 8, 1970, at i, col. 7. Before the trial began,

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