California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Brown, C087806 (Cal. App. 2020):
criminal justice system, with three prior felony convictions. He received and signed a statement of rights that advised him of his right to a unanimous jury determining his guilt had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt and thereby indicated he understood the right to a jury trial. Further, during the colloquy with the trial court, he stated he understood the difference between a jury trial and a court trial and had enough time to discuss waiving a jury with his attorney. As to jury selection, the court advised defendant that the courtroom would be filled with prospective jurors, from which they would select between 12 and 14, including alternates, to decide the facts of his case. In addition, the trial court informed defendant "we" would select the jury, which strongly suggests defendant would be involved in the selection process. The court distinguished this from a court trial, where the evidence would be the same, but it would be the judge who would decide the facts. Although the trial court did not explain every detail of the respective choices and compare them, it was not obligated to advise a represented defendant about " 'all the ins and outs' " of a jury trial (People v. Wrest (1992) 3 Cal.4th 1088, 1105), or the relative advantages or disadvantages of the types of trials (People v. Castaneda (1975) 52 Cal.App.3d 334, 344; People v. Acosta (1971) 18 Cal.App.3d 895, 902).
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