98911, People v. Baez

oth of whom I respect and admire, all lawyers in the murdertask force probably have two or three times the experiencethat you gentlemen have in death penalty cases, and so it’sjust no justification for it.All right, the public defenders murder task force will beappointed and private counsel’s appointment is vacated.”The court also noted defendant’s previous complaints about AssistantPublic Defender Buchholz, and the court directed Assistant PublicDefender Stu Smith, who was present in the courtroom, to ask thatBuchholz not be reassigned to the case. The court then addresseddefendant directly, telling him that he would be given time while thepublic defender assigned new counsel. The following colloquy thentook place:“DEFENDANT: May I plead guilty to this case? I’d liketo change my plea.THE COURT: Well Mr. Baez, let me tell you this. Youhave the absolute right to plead guilty. However, I think youneed to first talk to an attorney. I think you said this to mebefore.DEFENDANT: No. I been deciding this since the incidentoccurred.THE COURT: I don’t want you to talk about the facts ofthe case at all, Mr. Baez. I’m almost certain that you made astatement similar to this in court before. But let me say this toyou. When you get another attorney on the case you talk tothat attorney about your desires, your options. Wait until theattorney gets all the reports on this case and they have anopportunity to review those reports and to talk to you aboutthe strength or weaknesses of the case. And if you want toplead guilty then you tell the lawyer that that’s your desire.That lawyer can talk to you. They can talk to the State. Theycan possibly get a resolution of your case. I don’t know.They may involve me in the resolution of your case. Idon’t know. I can’t get involved in it unless both partiesagree. Do you understand what I’m saying?DEFENDANT: Yes, ma’am.THE COURT: So just wait until you have an opportunity-12-