People v. Hojnowski
Annotate this CaseDefendant was a prisoner at Pelican Bay State Prison. Officers escorted him to the showers and placed him in a stall with a steel mesh security screen. After defendant finished showering, officers handcuffed him while he was still in the stall and asked whether he had a cellmate, because protocol required certain precautions when another inmate was present. Defendant responded with a vulgarity and spit through the screen, hitting two officers. Defendant spit at officers who came to assist. Found competent to stand trial, he was convicted of three counts of aggravated battery by gassing, Penal Code 4501.1, “intentionally placing or throwing, or causing to be placed or thrown, upon the person of another, any human excrement or other bodily fluids or bodily substances ... results in actual contact with the person’s skin or membranes.” Defendant had a prior conviction under the Three Strikes law; he was sentenced to an aggregate term of 11 years. The court of appeal affirmed, rejecting arguments that: the court should have declared a doubt as to his competency and suspended criminal proceedings before trial began, even though he had been found competent; denial of his motion for self-representation under Faretta v. California was effective to show doubt as to his competence to stand trial; the court should have held a hearing on his right to substitute counsel; and the court erroneously believed it was required to impose consecutive sentences.
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