P. v. Lewis CA1/3
A. The first suspension of proceedings
In September 2017, defendant was charged by complaint with one count of rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2)). He initially appeared represented by a private attorney, but by December 2017, he asked to be represented by the public defender or to represent himself. The public defender accepted the appointment but by January 2018, defendant made a Marsden motion (People v. Marsden (1970) 2 Cal.3d 118 (Marsden)) for the appointment of substitute counsel. The trial court denied the Marsden motion, but the public defender declared a conflict, and so did the attorney appointed thereafter. Then in March, defendant again sought new counsel. In April, he filed a Faretta motion (Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 (Faretta)) to represent himself. Defendant represented himself for about two weeks before requesting counsel. Shortly after being appointed, defendant’s fifth attorney declared a doubt as to defendant’s competency.
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