California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Bloom, 259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 48 Cal.3d 1194, 774 P.2d 698 (Cal. 1989):
Viewed in light of these principles, defendant's motion was plainly one for self-representation, with an added request that his attorney remain in a limited and chiefly advisory capacity. As noted, defendant stated he wanted to "go pro. per." Although defendant used the word "cocounsel" on several occasions, his intended purpose was to assume control of the case, rather than merely to assist his attorney in its presentation. (See People v. Windham (1977) 19 Cal.3d 121, 125, fn. 2, 137 Cal.Rptr. 8, 560 P.2d 1187.) Defendant's stated purpose of obtaining a death verdict was contrary to the advice of his attorney, who [774 P.2d 713] urged defendant to permit counsel to seek the lesser penalty of imprisonment for life without possibility of parole. To achieve his preferred verdict, defendant proposed to address the jury personally and to examine
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