By Fiona Davis
WOODLAND, CA – A man facing several felony charges addressed the judge directly Monday here in Yolo County Superior Court, stating he wanted his lawyer fired and that he wanted to plead guilty.
“I don’t want him as my lawyer, and I want to plead guilty to this charge,” the accused told the court, which refused to accept the guilty plea.
Wednesday, Judge David Rosenberg denied the accused’s “Marsden” motion to replace his court-appointed counsel, and named another doctor to examine the accused to determine if he is competent to stand trial. A competency hearing is set for Aug. 16.
In July 2020, the accused was initially charged with several felony and misdemeanor charges connected to the alleged possession of firearms and controlled substances, as well as the possession of fireworks without a permit.
While the accused was eventually released from custody, after failing to appear in court multiple times over the last two years, the accused has faced additional charges related to these failed appearances.
Because of these subsequent charges, the accused has been remanded back into custody several times, including in June of this year, as he currently sits in the Yolo County Jail on $10,000 bail.
On Monday, in a hearing to discuss a medical report concerning the mental competence of the accused, the accused stood present in court alongside his public defense attorney, David Nelson.
There, Nelson—along with Deputy District Attorney Preston Schaub—agreed that another physician needed to evaluate the accused before they could move forward with further proceedings in this case.
However, before the judge could rule on the matter, the accused spoke up, asking the judge if he could please speak with the judge directly.
Judge Rosenberg eventually responded to the accused by advising him to instead speak with Nelson
“I prefer that you talk to your attorney,” Rosenberg told the accused.
When the accused again told the judge that he “need[ed] to talk to” the judge himself, Rosenberg then replied, “Well, a lot of people need to talk to me.”
Despite the judge’s reservations, the accused told the court that he wanted to file a motion to have Nelson removed as his publicly appointed attorney.
“I want him fired. I don’t want him as my lawyer,” the accused stated, adding he wanted to plead guilty to “this charge,” telling the court that he needed to return to his “family at home.”
“I’ve been in custody for 80 days now,” the accused stated emphatically.
While Monday’s hearing was filed under the failure to appear charges, it is unclear what exact charge the accused was referring to.
In response, Judge Rosenberg agreed to hold a hearing, but told the accused that he could not accept a guilty plea while the results of the accused’s competency reports were still pending.
When the accused once again reiterated that he did not want Nelson to represent him, Judge Rosenberg responded by saying, “That’s enough, sir. You told me what you want. We’ll take care of it, and we’ll see if we have good cause for it.”
In the end, after the hearing Wednesday, the accused is still in jail after the judge denied his motion.
