Full opinion text
Opinion WERDEGAR, J. Keith Desmond Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Marilyn Mishak, committed in the course of burglarizing Mishak’s Redlands home and robbing her. Defendant, who represented himself at trial, contends he was mentally incompetent to conduct his own defense and should not have been permitted to do so. We affirm the judgment. Factual and Procedural Background On the night of September 1, 1994, someone broke into Marilyn Mishak’s condominium and stabbed and strangled her to death. Defendant was tied to the burglary and killing primarily by his fingerprints found at the scene and by witnesses who placed him in the vicinity at the time. The jury convicted defendant of first degree murder, robbery and burglary, and found true special circumstance allegations of murder in the commission of burglary and robbery. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189, 190.2, 211, 459.) The jury set the penalty for the murder at death, and defendant was so sentenced. Guilt Phase Evidence On August 31, 1994, defendant stayed with Clemente Calloway at the home of Calloway’s grandmother. On September 1, Calloway and defendant went to dinner at a friend’s house. They left around 9:00 p.m., and on the way home defendant said he wanted to get a beer. Because no drinking was permitted at his grandmother’s, Calloway dropped defendant at a 7-Eleven convenience store a few blocks away, less than a mile from Mishak’s condominium. Defendant did not return to Calloway’s grandmother’s house that night, and Calloway next saw defendant in court. About 11:30 p.m. on September 1, Kevin Holman, who lived in Mishak’s neighborhood, heard tapping on one of his windows. Soon after that, the doorbell rang and Holman answered it to find a young African-American man in dark clothing. The man asked for “Yolanda” and, when told no one by that name lived there, walked away. In a photographic lineup and at trial, Holman identified defendant as the man on his doorstep, though he was not absolutely certain of either identification. About 11:45 p.m., another neighbor, Anne Mills, was awakened by her doorbell ringing. After turning on lights and waiting a few minutes, she looked out the window but saw no one at the door. Mishak was a developmentally disabled 33-year-old woman who lived alone. Her mother talked to her around 4:00 p.m. on September 1 and went to check on her the next day when she did not come to work. She noticed the garage and condominium were uncharacteristically messy; no morning coffee had been made; and a bottle of wine, which Mishak never drank but kept in a cupboard for her father, was on the counter. In the living room, she found Mishak’s body lying on the floor, an electrical cord wrapped around her neck. Police officers called to the scene found the victim lying facedown with the cord around her neck. She was wearing a bloodstained T-shirt, and her underpants were down at her feet. A knife with a three-and-one-half-inch handle, similar to ones in a butcher block in the kitchen, was embedded in the victim’s abdomen. The autopsy showed Mishak had been strangled and stabbed in the abdomen, the knife piercing her liver. Either event could have been fatal. Her body also bore bruises in several areas. The medical examiner opined the stabbing and strangling had probably occurred within a few minutes of each other, as the amount of bleeding and hemorrhaging indicated the victim was alive during each. Mishak’s father testified that after her killing he tested the garage door and found that when its handle was pulled upward from the outside, the motion activated the automatic garage door opener and the door opened fully. Doors from the garage into the laundry room and the dining room bore pry marks and had been propped open. A twisted metal strip and a spatula-like tool, which police found on the garage floor, could have been used to pry open the doors. Also found on the garage floor was a paper bag containing a beer bottle. In the bedrooms, closets and drawers were open. Mishak’s jewelry boxes were sitting on the bed and rug in her bedroom, and the contents of her purse had been emptied onto the floor. The victim’s mother later examined the condominium’s contents and identified several missing items, including the garage door opener and the victim’s wallet, watches and other jewelry. When a latent fingerprint from the paper bag containing the beer bottle was compared to fingerprints in law enforcement databases, it matched defendant’s fingerprint. Defendant’s fingerprints were then compared to others taken from the victim’s condominium. They matched latent fingerprints on the frame of an exterior door, on the wine bottle found on the kitchen counter, and on one of Mishak’s jewelry boxes. A police detective visited 20 to 25 stores in the vicinity to find any that sold 40-ounce bottles of Magnum Malt Liquor, the type of bottle found in the paper bag on the garage floor, and used No. 8 size bags certified as 50 percent recycled by Scientific Certification Laboratories, the type of bag found on the garage floor. He found only one match for the combination of bag and beverage: the 7-Eleven store where Calloway left defendant to buy beer on the night of the killing. Called to the stand by defendant, another of Mishak’s neighbors testified that early on the morning of September 2, 1994, she saw a man, whom she described to police as White or Hispanic, walking in the area and carrying a paper bag. Several days later, also in the early morning, she saw the same person from closer up; this time he was wearing a backpack and looked like a teenager. Defendant also called a clerk at the 7-Eleven store and re-called the principal police investigator, Detective Garcia, in an effort to suggest the crimes may have been committed by Jesse Mason, whom Garcia had learned was also staying at Calloway’s grandmother’s house at the time. Garcia had shown the clerk a photograph of Jesse Mason as part of a photographic lineup. She recognized one picture in the lineup (which did not include defendant’s photograph) as that of a regular customer. Some days later, Garcia interviewed Mason and searched his residence, but eliminated him as a suspect when his fingerprints failed to match any of the latent prints taken from the crime scene. Finally, defendant extensively examined the forensic specialist who lifted latent fingerprints from the scene, a detective who helped collect evidence at the scene, a clerk in the fingerprint examiner’s office, and the supervisor of that office regarding the numbering system used to mark latent prints and other evidence and the procedures the examiner’s office followed for logging and tracking prints. His apparent goal was to cast doubt on the identification of his fingerprints at the scene by proving gaps or discrepancies in the collection and comparison procedures. Penalty Phase Evidence The prosecution presented evidence of three incidents involving defendant. In 1988, defendant had broken into a woman’s mobilehome in Lemoore at night; when she awoke and confronted him, he knocked her to the floor with his fist. In 1991, he led an Emeryville police officer on a high-speed chase, ran when his car crashed, lunged at the officer during his arrest and, even after being handcuffed, threatened and kicked at the arresting officers. Finally, in 1994, he rang a doorbell in Alameda at 6:15 a.m. and, when the resident did not answer, broke into the garage by smashing a door. Police had difficulty arresting him, and he was carrying a pistol. The prosecution also presented evidence defendant had previously been convicted of residential burglary and auto theft. Defendant presented no penalty phase evidence. Analysis I. Procedures for Determining Competence to Stand Trial Defendant contends the procedures by which the trial court found him competent to stand trial were constitutionally deficient in several respects. We find no error in the procedures employed. The question of competence to stand trial was first raised in pretrial proceedings, after defendant’s first request to represent himself was denied. In explaining its finding that defendant was not competent to represent himself, the trial court (Judge McCarville) observed: “[W]hile the record, the written record, may reflect [defendant] has given articulate responses [to the court’s questions regarding self-representation,] the court will note by his own facial expressions and by certain time delays from the time questions were posed by the court and his responses, and what I will call quizzical looks on his face, while he appeared to give intelligent responses, the court finds that it is not, in fact, the case.” Defense counsel then made “a 1368 motion based on some of the court’s comments.” The trial court responded that its comments had been aimed only at the question of self-representation, but because counsel sought a determination of trial competence, the court suspended the criminal proceedings and ordered the appointment of two psychologists to examine defendant. On the form letter of appointment, the court clerk correctly informed the psychologists they were to examine defendant and report on his “present mental competence pursuant to P.C. 1368.” Boxes were checked on the form for that statute and for three subsidiary determinations to be made: “Is the defendant presently able to understand the nature and purpose of the proceedings taken against him?” “Is he presently able to cooperate in a rational manner with counsel in presenting a defense?” and “Is he presently able to prepare and conduct his own defense in a rational manner without counsel?” In addition, although defendant had not entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, the letter stated the examination was also under “section 1026 of the Penal Code,” which sets out the procedures for trying such a plea, and two question boxes relating to insanity were checked: “Was the defendant sane at the time of the commission of the alleged offense?” and “Has the defendant ‘fully recovered his sanity’ . . . ?” The appointed psychologists, Michael Kania and Christopher Flach, each examined defendant and submitted a written report. Kania, who interviewed defendant but administered no tests, concentrated his report on competence questions. He found defendant was “able to accurately perceive events occurring around him, with no evidence of significant distortions due to severe psychopathology.” Defendant’s “cognitive functioning is intact. Attention, concentration and comprehension are good. The defendant appears to be of average intellectual ability. . . . [f] Diagnostically, the defendant does not appear to suffer from any severe psychological disorder at the present time. There are some features of a personality disorder, and there is also a history of cocaine abuse.” Defendant knew the charges against him and the roles played by his attorney, the district attorney, the court and the jury. Kania concluded defendant understood the nature and purpose of the proceedings, was able to cooperate in a rational manner with counsel (though he expressed dissatisfaction with his current attorney), and would be able to conduct his own defense in a rational manner. Defendant was “trial competent.” Flach administered several tests, including two intelligence tests, and also interviewed defendant. He described his appointment as for a “1368 PC evaluation,” but also purported to ascertain defendant’s mental state “to aid in diagnosis, treatment, and placement planning.” He found defendant knew he faced a murder charge and could be sentenced to death, and knew the roles of the prosecutor, the judge and the defense counsel, though he distrusted his current attorney and had difficulty understanding his point of view. Flach found “no acute psychotic thought disorders” from his examination, but found defendant seemed “somewhat grandiose at times,” particularly as to courtroom “strategies,” and presented with “an exaggerated degree of self-importance” and entitlement, displaying a “rather narcissistic perspective.” Defendant had “inflated ideas about his own accomplishments” and an “almost . . . delusional conviction regarding the nature of his insight.” He “seems to believe that his needs are special, particularly within the courtroom situation. In part, this may explain his reason for doubting his own attorney or even trying to represent himself.” Flach observed these personality traits could be related to defendant’s “long history of cocaine dependence.” With regard to intellectual functioning, defendant’s test results were in the “borderline range” (including a 75 verbal IQ score on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale — Revised). In general, Flach found defendant’s abilities borderline in understanding of the world, vocabulary and memory, and low average in math skills. Overall defendant had “low average to borderline intelligence, with severe deficits noted in common sense reasoning and abstract thinking abilities.” These deficits, which “would [a]ffect his ability to effectively interact with others at times” and to understand abstract problems, were “consistent” with defendant’s history of substance abuse. Flach concluded defendant understood the nature and purpose of the proceedings, but “may have difficulty in rationally cooperating with coun[sel], due to his tendency to become somewhat defensive and distrusting.” Because of his low average to borderline intellectual functioning, defendant “would have some difficulty in representing himself without an attorney.” Addressing the insanity-related questions checked on the form letter of appointment, Flach observed that defendant appeared to be aware of the wrongful conduct he had admitted (breaking into an Oakland garage), but that his thinking at the time may have been affected by substance use, and that defendant had not “fully recovered” his sanity, in that the possibility of drug use made him a continuing danger to himself and others. After receiving the psychologists’ reports, the trial court held a hearing to try the competence issue. Defendant waived his right to a jury trial on the question, and both parties submitted the question to the court without further evidence or argument. The court, “based upon review of the reports,” found defendant competent to stand trial and assigned the case to a trial department. Neither the federal Constitution nor our statutes allow a person to be tried criminally while mentally incompetent. (Pate v. Robinson (1966) 383 U.S. 375, 378 [15 L.Ed.2d 815, 86 S.Ct. 836]; § 1367, subd. (a).) The constitutional test is whether the defendant “ ‘has sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding— and whether he has a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him.’ ” (Dusky v. United States (1960) 362 U.S. 402 [4 L.Ed.2d 824, 80 S.Ct. 788] (per curiam).) Our statutes similarly forbid prosecution while the defendant, “as a result of mental disorder or developmental disability, ... is unable to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings or to assist counsel in the conduct of a defense in a rational manner.” (§ 1367, subd. (a).) The federal Constitution further demands that “state procedures ... be adequate to protect this right.” (Pate v. Robinson, supra, 383 U.S. at p. 378; accord, Drope v. Missouri (1975) 420 U.S. 162, 172 [43 L.Ed.2d 103, 95 S.Ct. 896].) Our statutes provide for suspension of criminal proceedings when a doubt as to the defendant’s competence arises in the trial judge’s mind or when counsel informs the court of counsel’s belief the defendant may be incompetent (§ 1368); the appointment of psychologists or psychiatrists to examine the defendant (§ 1369, subd. (a)); and trial of the issue to a jury or to the court (id., subds. (b)-(f)). The defense may waive a jury trial and may even, as here, submit the issue to the court on the written reports of psychologists or psychiatrists. (People v. Lawley (2002) 27 Cal.4th 102, 131-132 [115 Cal.Rptr.2d 614, 38 P.3d 461]; People v. McPeters (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1148, 1169 [9 Cal.Rptr.2d 834, 832 P.2d 146].) Defendant contends the procedures the trial court employed for determining his competence to stand trial were constitutionally inadequate, first, in that the court failed to pose the proper questions for the two psychologists. According to defendant, this resulted in “the failure of one of the experts [Flach] to address the competency question at all.” At the least, defendant argues, the resulting flaws in Flach’s report required live testimony to be taken at the competence hearing. The record does not support this contention. The court’s form letter of appointment requested evaluation of defendant’s “present mental competence pursuant to P.C. 1368,” and a series of more specific questions aimed at that issue were checked on the form. That the letter also referred inappropriately to the issue of sanity, and two questions regarding that issue were also checked, does not establish any constitutionally significant error. Similarly, the record shows Flach’s report did address the competence questions, though he refrained from giving a definitive opinion on the final issue. That he also discussed defendant’s mental status more broadly and briefly addressed the checked insanity questions did not render his report ambiguous or misleading. Flach’s superfluous conclusions therefore did not require the trial court to hold an evidentiary hearing at which the expert could be cross-examined. Defendant’s cited case, Matheney v. Anderson (7th Cir. 2001) 253 F.3d 1025, in which counsel requested a competence evaluation but the trial court’s examination order and the experts’ reports addressed only the sanity question, yet counsel failed to seek a hearing (see id. at pp. 1029-1032, 1040-1041), is clearly inapposite. Second, defendant contends the trial court was constitutionally obliged to hold an evidentiary hearing in order to resolve conflicts between the two psychologists’ reports. On this point, we agree with the Attorney General that defendant’s characterization of the conflict is exaggerated. Neither psychologist found that defendant suffered from any psychosis or other severe mental illness, and both noted defendant’s history of substance abuse, which Flach found might have adversely affected defendant’s intellectual functioning and personality. While Kania noted “some features of a personality disorder,” Flach’s more detailed description of defendant’s self-image as “somewhat grandiose” with “an exaggerated degree of self-importance” and a “rather narcissistic perspective” was not inconsistent. Although defendant’s intellectual functioning was assessed as average by Kania and as low average or borderline by Flach, the experts agreed he was capable of understanding the nature of the proceedings against him. The only significant difference in the experts’ conclusions with regard to trial competence was that Kania believed defendant was “able to cooperate in a rational manner with counsel,” though he was dissatisfied with his lawyers, while Flach believed that because of defendant’s distrustful and defensive tendencies, he might “have difficulty” cooperating rationally with counsel. Flach’s conclusion was consistent with the record of proceedings to that point, which showed defendant had indeed had difficulty cooperating with counsel, partly because of distrust arising from differences over defense strategy. (See fn. 2, ante.) Notably, however, Flach did not opine that defendant’s difficulties with counsel were due to mental illness. Nor did he state a conclusion defendant was unable to assist counsel in presentation of a defense or was incompetent to stand trial. We conclude that as in People v. Lawley, supra, 27 Cal.4th at pages 130-132, where a court-appointed psychologist and one hired by the defense had reached different conclusions on the defendant’s trial competence, the trial court here could, despite the differences between Kama’s and Flach’s reports, constitutionally undertake to resolve the competence question without holding an evidentiary hearing. (See also People v. McPeters, supra, 2 Cal.4th at pp. 1168-1169 [submission on expert reports not an unconstitutional procedure where, though two current reports found the defendant competent, a past report by one of the experts found him incompetent].) There was no evidence before the trial court of psychosis or any severe thought disorder, and neither expert opined that defendant would be unable to assist counsel because of a mental illness. Defendant clearly had a history of conflict with his attorneys, but the court could reasonably conclude, without contradiction from either psychologist’s report, that such conflicts were attributable to difficult aspects of defendant’s personality rather than to a diagnosed mental illness. Third, defendant contends the trial court was obliged to have him examined by the regional center for the developmentally disabled (see § 1369, subd. (a)) because Flach’s testing showed a verbal IQ score of 75. Flach’s report, however, nowhere referred to any possibility of a developmental disability. Rather, Flach concluded defendant’s relatively low intelligence might be “related to his problems and history with substance dependence,” and his difficulty with commonsense reasoning was “consistent with his history of substance abuse.” This was not an opinion that would cause the trial court to “suspect[] the defendant is developmentally disabled” (§ 1369, subd. (a)), and no referral was therefore required. Finally, defendant contends events during the guilt and special circumstances trial and at a hearing between the guilt and penalty phases should have led the trial court to reevaluate his trial competence before proceeding with the penalty trial. We conclude such reexamination was not required. “ ‘When a competency hearing has already been held and defendant has been found competent to stand trial, however, a trial court need not suspend proceedings to conduct a second competency hearing unless it “is presented with a substantial change of circumstances or with new evidence” casting a serious doubt on the validity of that finding. [Citations.]’ ” (People v. Kelly (1992) 1 Cal.4th 495, 542-543 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 677, 822 P.2d 385].) Here, there was no such new evidence or changed circumstances. During the guilt phase of trial, to be sure, defendant displayed some of the “deficits . . . in common sense reasoning and abstract thinking abilities” Flach had already noted, engaging in extensive unproductive questioning of witnesses and inarticulate arguments to the court and jury. But defendant points to nothing in his guilt phase efforts indicating he had lost the ability to understand the nature of the criminal proceedings. Defendant’s attempts to defend himself at the guilt phase may have been, as he now says, “disturbingly inept,” but they were not of a character to cast serious doubt on the trial court’s finding that he knew what he was charged with and the nature of the trial in which he took full part. Nor did defendant’s mention, at a hearing before the penalty phase began, of the possibility that he might seek a new guilt trial on the basis of his own “incompetence” as an attorney constitute changed circumstances or new evidence that undermined the trial court’s original determination he was competent to stand trial. II. Self-representation in Capital Cases Defendant contends that in capital cases the Sixth Amendment right to represent oneself, recognized in Faretta v. California (1975) 422 U.S. 806 [45 L.Ed.2d 562, 95 S.Ct. 2525] (Faretta), must give way to the requirements of the Fifth and Eighth Amendments to the federal Constitution that the death penalty be imposed through a fair and reliable procedure. He maintains the latter principle requires representation by counsel, even contrary to the defendant’s choice, in all capital trials or, at a minimum, whenever the self-representing defendant’s conduct of his or her trial renders it unfair. Defendant’s “inept” conduct of his own defense, he further argues, made his trial fundamentally unfair. We addressed and rejected much the same set of claims in People v. Blair (2005) 36 Cal.4th 686, 736-740 [31 Cal.Rptr.3d 485, 115 P.3d 1145], and other cases. We have explained that the autonomy interest motivating the decision in Faretta — the principle that for the state to “force a lawyer on a defendant” would impinge on “ ‘that respect for the individual which is the lifeblood of the law’ ” (Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. at p. 834) — applies at a capital penalty trial as well as in a trial of guilt. (Blair, at pp. 738-740.) This is true even when self-representation at the penalty phase permits the defendant to preclude any investigation and presentation of mitigating evidence. (Id. at p. 737; see also People v. Koontz (2002) 27 Cal.4th 1041, 1073-1074 [119 Cal.Rptr.2d 859, 46 P.3d 335]; People v. Bradford (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1229, 1364-1365 [65 Cal.Rptr.2d 145, 939 P.2d 259].) A defendant convicted of a capital crime may legitimately choose a strategy aimed at obtaining a sentence of death rather than one of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, for some individuals may rationally prefer the former to the latter. (People v. Bloom (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1194, 1222-1223 [259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 774 P.2d 698].) Moreover, a rule requiring reversal when a capital defendant chooses self-representation and presents no mitigating evidence could easily be misused by a knowledgeable defendant who wished to embed his trial with reversible error. (Id. at pp. 1227-1228.) Nor does the likelihood or actuality of a poor performance by a defendant acting in propria persona defeat the federal self-representation right. The Faretta court explicitly recognized the probability defendants will be ill-served by waiving counsel and relying on their own “unskilled efforts,” but nonetheless held the defendant’s choice “must be honored.” (Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. at p. 834.) “The high court, however, has adhered to the principles of Faretta even with the understanding that self-representation more often than not results in detriment to the defendant, if not outright unfairness. [Citations.] Under these circumstances, we are not free to hold that the government’s interest in ensuring the fairness and integrity of defendant’s trial outweighed defendant’s right to self-representation.” (People v. Blair, supra, 36 Cal.4th at pp. 739-740, fn. omitted.) We conclude, therefore, that neither the fact defendant faced the death penalty nor the asserted ineptness of his defense efforts warranted denying or revoking his in propria persona status. We address in the next part the more difficult question of whether self-representation should have been denied or revoked on the ground defendant was mentally incompetent to represent himself. III. Defendant’s Mental Competence to Represent Himself In its recent decision in Indiana v. Edwards (2008) 554 U.S. 164 [171 L.Ed.2d 345, 128 S.Ct. 2379] (Edwards), the United States Supreme Court held the federal Constitution does not prohibit state courts from denying self-representation to defendants who are competent to stand trial with an attorney, i.e., are trial competent, but who lack the mental health or capacity to conduct their own defense at trial. (See id. at pp. - _ [128 S.Ct. at pp. 2385-2386, 2388].) Relying principally on this decision, defendant contends he was incompetent to represent himself, and the trial court, acting under the mistaken belief his request to represent himself could not be denied once he had been found trial competent, erred in failing to exercise its discretion to deny self-representation on grounds of mental incompetence. After setting out the record facts relevant to defendant’s claim he should have been denied self-representation on grounds of mental incompetence, we review the history of the competence question in federal and California courts. For reasons we explain, we conclude the trial court did not err in granting defendant’s request to represent himself. While Edwards makes clear states may set a higher or different competence standard for self-representation than for trial with counsel, California had not done so at the time of defendant’s trial. In the absence of a separate California test of mental competence for self-representation, the trial court had no higher or different standard to apply to the question. In that circumstance, the court did not err in relying on federal and state case law equating competence for self-representation with competence to stand trial. A. Facts Relevant to the Issue We review the procedural facts surrounding defendant’s self-representation and the aspects of his behavior at trial on which he now relies to show the trial court should have found him mentally incompetent to present his own defense. Pretrial Procedure As we have already noted, defendant had pretrial disagreements with his appointed attorneys, which led to several motions to substitute counsel, one of which, in February 1995, was granted. On January 5, 1996, defendant complained, as he had of his previous lawyers, that new counsel and he did not “see eye to eye” on strategy. Pressed to be more specific, defendant responded only that “I don’t agree with” counsel, that it was nothing personal, but “I don’t feel he’s presenting a good enough defense for me.” Denying the request for cocounsel status or new counsel, the trial court considered defendant’s alternative request for self-representation. The court (Judge McCarville) examined defendant on his understanding of the disadvantages and obstacles he would face representing himself. In answer to the court’s questions, defendant said he had a high school diploma and could read and write. When the court explained that the prosecutor would not be lenient if defendant represented himself, defendant responded: “He’s not supposed to. He’s my enemy.” Asked what legal training he had, if any, defendant answered: “I think I can think and reason logically, common sense. So I’d use my best judgment when I defend myself.” Asked why he wanted to represent himself, he replied: “I feel that I’ll do a good job and I’m not about playing games.” The court denied defendant’s Faretta motion on the ground he “does not have the ability to proceed pro per as his own counsel in this case.” In denying the motion the court made comments that prompted counsel to seek a competence examination. The court stated that while some of defendant’s responses in the colloquy appeared “articulate” and “intelligent,” defendant’s “quizzical looks” and delays in answering suggested otherwise. Based on its observations and defendant’s responses, the court had “very serious doubts that Mr. Taylor has even any part of an ability to represent himself in this particular case in a way that would comport with due process and justice.” As noted in part I, ante, the psychologists subsequently appointed to examine defendant regarding his competence to stand trial were also asked whether he was “presently able to prepare and conduct his own defense in a rational manner without counsel.” Kania, who found defendant’s “cognitive functioning is intact” and defendant to be of “average intellectual ability,” opined defendant “would be able to conduct his own defense in a rational manner.” Flach, who found defendant was of “low average to borderline intelligence, with severe deficits noted in common sense reasoning and abstract thinking abilities,” opined defendant “would have some difficulty in representing himself without an attorney.” On February 5, 1996, after the court found defendant competent to stand trial, defendant renewed his January 5 self-representation request, but Judge McCarville stated he had already addressed that issue and transferred the case to Judge Edwards’s department for trial. Later the same day, before Judge Edwards, defendant again asked to represent himself. The court noted Judge McCarville had just denied that motion and advised defendant the court would reconsider it only if there were a change of circumstances. But on February 26, 1996, at the outset of jury selection, defendant again renewed his request and the court scheduled a hearing on it for the next day. On February 27, the court extensively described to defendant the difficulties and risks of attempting to defend himself in a capital case. Defendant said he “understood] clearly” and had no questions. Asked why he wanted to represent himself, he said, of his attorneys, that “there are things they haven’t done” and “we’ve been having a conflict verbally.” Defendant stated he would like to have advisory counsel, but wished to represent himself even if advisory counsel was not appointed. The court noted: “I think, as I understand the law, Mr. Taylor has been found competent to stand trial, and that is the test that the court must follow in deciding whether he is competent to waive counsel.” Having also reviewed the transcript of defendant’s previous Faretta hearing before Judge McCarville, the court found defendant was “knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily” waiving counsel, and on that basis granted the motion for self-representation. Attorney Stephen Levine, who had previously represented defendant, was appointed advisory counsel. Trial As discussed in part IV, post, during jury selection defendant, for reasons unclear from the record, declined the court’s invitation to challenge for cause a juror who indicated on his questionnaire that the death penalty should be automatic for anyone who commits premeditated murder with special circumstances. On the other hand, defendant successfully challenged one prospective juror for cause and exercised a peremptory challenge against another whom he had unsuccessfully challenged for cause. At the guilt phase of trial, defendant questioned witnesses extensively on the details of the police investigation. For example, defendant questioned the San Bernardino County forensic specialist who collected most of the crime scene evidence, Valerie Seleska, at great length about the system she used to mark and record that evidence. Much of the questioning focused on the difference between numerals printed on the placards Seleska had placed at the crime scene and the property tag numbers she had used to mark the bagged evidence items themselves. Although Seleska explained early in defendant’s initial cross-examination of her that the placards were used only as references for locations at the crime scene and not to designate items of evidence collected, defendant called her in his own case and continued to ask about the differing numbering systems (as well as about separate tags added by the Redlands Police Department). Later, he called her to the stand again and examined her at length on how and when she had marked and transmitted to the fingerprint examiner each of the latent prints she collected or photographed at the scene or from evidence collected there. These questions were apparently aimed at showing Seleska might have fabricated some aspect of her records: defendant asked argumentatively how he could tell Seleska had not duplicated and falsely dated a fingerprint card, and whether, if she “wanted to make [her] statement accurate, or say some truth into [it],” would she not want each print “to be documented so there wouldn’t be no dispute about whether [she] did it on” a particular date. Another area of repeated focus for defendant was the procedure used by the fingerprint examiner’s office to receive and record prints for comparison. Seleska first brought prints in this case to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department examination office on a holiday, when the clerk who would ordinarily have logged them in, Mary Bait, was not working; Seleska therefore took them directly to an examiner who was on duty, Gene Bragdon; she did so with other prints on later days as well. As a result, many of the prints Bragdon examined were not accompanied by a work order or envelope showing the date and time his office had received them. Defendant questioned Seleska, Batt and Bragdon on several occasions about the ordinary procedure for logging prints into the examiner’s office and the procedure used with regard to prints in this case. He also questioned Bragdon in detail on the process by which one of the latent prints from the scene was initially matched to defendant through a computer database search. The two topics were, to defendant’s mind, closely related; he asked Bragdon, “How can I verify that you submitted a print and not had just went into the computer and selected people at random” if the time Bragdon received the latent print from Seleska was not documented. Part of defendant’s theory, he explained outside the jury’s presence, was that from the many latent fingerprints obtained at the crime scene, Bragdon must have found database matches to others as well as to defendant, and that the police had not properly investigated the possible guilt of these hypothetical other individuals. To the jury, he argued that the fingerprints collected and compared in the investigation had never been properly documented: “They just floating around. Just float around. We’re dealing with my life. Prints floating around. Not stamped. Not logged in no files. From that day they in and out of the courtroom as exhibits. Print on the door frame pop up later.” Generally, in guilt phase jury argument, defendant attempted to tie what he claimed was sloppy or deceptive documentation of the investigation to an inappropriate police focus on him to the exclusion of investigating other suspects, which the police witnesses had attempted to cover up. His defense, he told the jury, “is pretty obvious, that they want me bad, want me convicted ’cause they have no other. Whatever they might believe, they won’t admit it.” With reference to Bragdon’s failure to document when he received prints from Seleska and when he received a match from the computer database search and reported it to the detectives, defendant argued: “Every piece of information that I need or document is just undocumented, unsigned. Every piece of information I need to prove my innocence either is unsigned or is not there. Been denied. Every piece. I wonder why.” The police, defendant complained, would not admit that they had had other suspects: “I’m saying he won’t admit it, ’cause I believe they started so many lies prior would forbid them to tell the truth. They want to win a case. So, you seen them testify on the stand. Everybody have eyes and they see the testimonies, reactions, the truth on this. If you had a case, you wouldn’t be covering up, coercing. You would tell it like it is.” After the jury returned guilty verdicts on the charged offenses and found true the special circumstances, the court asked defendant whether he wished to have counsel reappointed for the penalty phase of trial, and encouraged him to do so. Defendant said he would accept someone other than his former attorney, Levine, who was acting as standby counsel (to which status he had been demoted, at defendant’s request, from advisory counsel). Because defendant offered no new reason for rejecting Levine, however, the court stated it would reappoint him unless defendant chose to continue representing himself. Defendant chose the latter course. Levine then filed a motion to withdraw from his standby position. Levine explained he believed defendant had shown himself unable to conduct his own defense. His “focus on irrelevant matter and procedural manuals” had alienated the jury and, though the reporter’s transcript did not reflect it, during examination of witnesses defendant “was unprepared, would stand at the podium for long, long, periods of time (the longest I recall was 22 minutes) without saying a word, shuffling papers, while the court, the prosecutor, and the jury all sat there waiting for him to get his thoughts together.” Levine argued that, at least in capital cases, mere competence to stand trial should not entitle a defendant to represent himself. While acknowledging that the high court in Godinez v. Moran (1993) 509 U.S. 389 [125 L.Ed.2d 321, 113 S.Ct. 2680] had held the competence standard for waiving counsel was the same as that for standing trial, and California had not yet adopted any higher standard for self-representation, Levine urged the trial court to take the “courageous” step of doing so itself and finding defendant incompetent to represent himself at the penalty phase. Absent that step, Levine “no longer [felt] that [he could] sit in court” and observe as standby counsel. Regarding Levine’s plea for revoking defendant’s self-representation, the court stated: “While I might personally agree with you, Mr. Levine, I wish the law were different, and it probably should be different. As I understand the law, it’s not. I have really no choice in the matter, once he has been found to be competent to stand trial, and to waive his right, and has been fully advised and informed of all of the consequences of exercising his right to represent himself, I think I am bound to honor that request.” While sympathizing with Levine’s frustrations, the court denied his request to withdraw as standby counsel. Representing himself at the penalty phase trial, defendant put on no mitigating evidence, though he did cross-examine some of the People’s witnesses. He declined to make any argument to the jury. B. Standard of Mental Competence for Self-representation: California and Federal Law Prior to the United States Supreme Court’s 1975 decision in Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. 806, this court had discussed the criminal defendant’s right to self-representation — and the mental competence needed to exercise the right — under the California Constitution. In People v. Mattson (1959) 51 Cal.2d 777, 788 [336 P.2d 937], we stated that article I, former section 13 of the California Constitution (now art. I, § 15), together with implementing statutes, “accord the accused not only a right to counsel but also a right to represent himself if he so elects.” In People v. Carter (1967) 66 Cal.2d 666, 672 [58 Cal.Rptr. 614, 427 P.2d 214], again referring to state law, we observed that “although every defendant in a criminal case has the constitutional right to represent himself if he so elects [citations], before his waiver of counsel may be accepted the trial court is duty bound to determine his competency to represent himself.” In People v. Sharp (1972) 7 Cal.3d 448 [103 Cal.Rptr. 233, 499 P.2d 489] (Sharp), however, we disapproved these earlier recognitions of a state law right to self-representation. We held neither article I, former section 13 of the California Constitution nor Penal Code section 686, both of which allowed the defendant to appear and defend “in person and with counsel,” thereby conferred a right to represent oneself. (Sharp, at pp. 459, 463-464.) At the same time, we instructed trial courts that in exercising their discretion whether to allow self-representation, they should continue to apply the “competency” standards previously set forth. (Sharp, at p. 461.) The only case we cited as having set forth such standards, however, actually discussed the standard for determining “whether the defendant is capable of making a knowing and intelligent election” to waive counsel, not for determining competence to actually represent oneself at trial. (People v. Floyd (1970) 1 Cal.3d 694, 702-703 [83 Cal.Rptr. 608, 464 P.2d 64].) Before Faretta, then, we had referred to self-representation competence, but had not articulated any standard under California law for its assessment. In recognizing a federal constitutional right to represent oneself, the high court in Faretta also did not address the standard of mental competence needed to claim the right. The court made clear, on the one hand, that the defendant’s waiver of counsel must be undertaken voluntarily and “ ‘with eyes open’ ” to the disadvantages of self-representation (Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. at p. 835) and, on the other, that the defendant’s “technical legal knowledge” was irrelevant to the exercise of the right (id. at p. 836). But except for noting that Faretta himself was “literate, competent, and understanding” (id. at p. 835), the court did not explore how a defendant’s mental health and capacity related to the newly recognized Sixth Amendment right. In the wake of Faretta’s strong constitutional statement, California courts tended to view the federal self-representation right as absolute, assuming a valid waiver of counsel. In People v. Windham (1977) 19 Cal.3d 121, 128 [137 Cal.Rptr. 8, 560 P.2d 1187], we held that upon the making of a timely Faretta motion “a trial court must permit a defendant to represent himself upon ascertaining that he has voluntarily and intelligently elected to do so, irrespective of how unwise such a choice might appear to be.” Two Courts of Appeal went further, expressly deciding there could be, under Faretta, no separate standard for mental competence to represent oneself: “ ‘[T]he sole issue to be determined in a Faretta hearing is whether the defendant has the mental capacity to waive his constitutional right to counsel with a realization of the probable risks and consequences of his action. Whether or not a defendant is competent to act as his own lawyer is irrelevant.’ ” (People v. Zatko (1978) 80 Cal.App.3d 534, 544 [145 Cal.Rptr. 643], quoting Curry v. Superior Court (1977) 75 Cal.App.3d 221, 226-227 [141 Cal.Rptr. 884].) The Court of Appeal in People v. Burnett (1987) 188 Cal.App.3d 1314 [234 Cal.Rptr. 67] (Burnett) expressed a contrasting view. Building on the idea expressed in People v. Powers, supra, 256 Cal.App.2d at page 915, that “[a] determination of competency to waive counsel must necessarily embrace an assessment of a defendant’s ability to conduct his own defense,” the Burnett court opined that “the distinction between competence to waive counsel gauged by whether the accused realizes ‘the probable risks and consequences,’ and competence measured by the ability to actually represent oneself cannot be fully maintained, for there is a threshold of competence to present a defense below which one cannot genuinely realize the risk of doing so. ... A defendant who does not appreciate the extent of his own disability cannot be fully aware of the risk of self-representation where the disability significantly impairs his capacity to function in a courtroom.” (Burnett, at p. 1325.) The Burnett court went on to state a test for the “cognitive and communicative skills” involved in competently representing oneself: “Such skills are present where the accused: (1) possesses a reasonably accurate awareness of his situation, including not simply an appreciation of the charges against him and the range and nature of possible penalties, but also his own physical or mental infirmities, if any; (2) is able to understand and use relevant information rationally in order to fashion a response to the charges; and (3) can coherently communicate that response to the trier of fact.” (Burnett, supra, 188 Cal.App.3d at p. 1327, fh. omitted.) Burnett was later followed in People v. Manago (1990) 220 Cal.App.3d 982, 988 [269 Cal.Rptr. 819], in the case of a defendant “so undereducated and inarticulate that [his] trial[] would be reduced to a sham and a farce” were he to represent himself. The United States Supreme Court’s 1993 decision addressing competence, Godinez v. Moran, supra, 509 U.S. 389 (Godinez), appeared to resolve any dispute by denying the existence of a separate competence standard for self-representation as a matter of federal law. The defendant, Moran, who had tried to kill himself after fatally shooting his former wife and two others, was evaluated by two psychologists and found competent to stand trial. He sought to dismiss his attorneys and plead guilty in order to avoid the presentation of mitigating evidence at his sentencing hearing. Despite Moran’s attempted suicide and the fact he was taking prescribed antiseizure medications, the state trial court accepted his waiver of counsel and allowed him to plead guilty; he received a death sentence. (Id. at pp. 391-393.) On petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the federal court of appeals held that, even though Moran had been found competent to stand trial, the record showed he was not competent to waive counsel and plead guilty, steps the court of appeals believed required higher levels of mental functioning than standing trial with the assistance of counsel. (Id. at p. 394.) The Supreme Court reversed, “reject[ing] the notion that competence to plead guilty or to waive the right to counsel must be measured by a standard that is higher than (or even different from) the Dusky standard.” (Godinez, supra, 509 U.S. at p. 398; see Dusky v. United States, supra, 362 U.S. 402.) To the argument that representing oneself requires greater intellectual powers than standing trial with an attorney, the high court answered: “But this argument has a flawed premise; the competence that is required of a defendant seeking to waive his right to counsel is the competence to waive the right, not the competence to represent himself.” (Godinez, at p. 399, fn. omitted.) While most defendants undeniably would be better defended with counsel than without, “a criminal defendant’s ability to represent himself has no bearing upon his competence to choose self-representation.” (Id. at p. 400, fn. omitted.) The high court acknowledged that in addition to trial competence, the defendant seeking to waive counsel must be found to do so knowingly and voluntarily. The court stressed, however, that this is not a competence standard; while the competence inquiry focuses on the defendant’s ability to understand the proceedings, the “knowing and voluntary” (ibid.) inquiry is intended to ensure the defendant actually does understand the consequences of his or her decision, and that the decision is uncoerced. (Id. at pp. 400-401 & fn. 12.) Finally, the court observed that “psychiatrists and scholars” might find subclassifications of competence useful, and that “while States are free to adopt competency standards that are more elaborate than the Dusky formulation, the Due Process Clause does not impose these additional requirements.” (Id. at p. 402.) Our Courts of Appeal promptly held that under Godinez no greater degree of competence was required for self-representation than for standing trial. In People v. Poplawski (1994) 25 Cal.App.4th 881, 894 — 895 [30 Cal.Rptr.2d 760] (Poplawski), the court reversed a conviction on the ground the trial court had improperly revoked the defendant’s in propria persona status because of the defendant’s difficulty understanding and communicating during trial proceedings. Godinez established, the court observed, that the only requirements for waiving counsel were trial competence and a voluntary and intelligent waiver. Consequently Burnett, supra, 188 Cal.App.3d 1314, and its progeny, decided prior to Godinez, were not to be followed “insofar as they purport to impose a stricter standard of competency on the right to undertake one’s own defense . . . .” (Poplawski, at p. 894.) Similarly, in People v. Nauton (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 976, 978-979 [34 Cal.Rptr.2d 861] (Nauton), the appellate court reversed the conviction because the trial court, despite finding the defendant competent to stand trial, had denied his Faretta motion on the ground his “grandiose” thought patterns and “non sequitur responses” made him unsuitable to represent himself. Under Godinez, the defendant’s ability to represent himself was irrelevant to the competence of his waiver, which was established by his competence to stand trial. (Nauton, at pp. 979-980.) The court in People v. Hightower (1996) 41 Cal.App.4th 1108 [49 Cal.Rptr.2d 40] (Hightower) followed suit, reversing the conviction of a defendant who was denied self-representation after being found competent to stand trial. Under Godinez, the competence standards were the same: “Because the trial court properly found appellant competent to stand trial, it necessarily follows that the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for self-representation. The two rulings are simply antithetical.” (Hightower, at p. 1116.) The court noted Godinez's reference to possible adoption of “ ‘more elaborate’ ” state law competence standards (Hightower, at p. 1113), but held Burnett's proposed standard was not based on California law but on an interpretation of Faretta and the high court’s earlier decision in Westbrook v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 150 [16 L.Ed.2d 429, 86 S.Ct. 1320] (per curiam), an interpretation proved wrong in Godinez (Hightower, at p. 1115). The court observed: “The Attorney General has not cited and our independent research has not led us to a single California case in which a ‘California’ standard which is different from (or ‘more elaborate than’) the federal standard for determining competence to waive counsel has been identified.” (Id. at p. 1115, fn. 4.) Poplawski and Nauton, decided in 1994, and Hightower, decided January 10, 1996, represented the California appellate courts’ most recent statements on the question of competence for self-representation when, on February 27, 1996, the trial court here granted defendant’s self-representation motion. Defendant’s former attorney, Levine, asking the court to apply a higher competence standard and to revoke defendant’s in propria persona status before the penalty phase (in a motion filed Apr. 23, 1996), acknowledged that Godinez equated the standard for representing oneself with that for standing trial, and Hightower held California had not yet adopted a higher competence standard for self-representation. While this court appears not to have addressed the issue between Godinez and defendant’s trial, we later reached the same conclusion regarding competence as the Hightower, Nauton and Poplawski courts. In 1997’s People v. Bradford, supra, 15 Cal.4th at page 1364, we noted Godinez's holdings that ability to represent oneself is irrelevant to a competent waiver of counsel and that the competence standard for waiver is the same as to stand trial. In People v. Welch (1999) 20 Cal.4th 701, 732-734 [85 Cal.Rptr.2d 203, 976 P.2d 754], we discussed the question more fully, holding that Burnett and its progeny, upon which the Welch trial court had relied in applying a higher standard of competence and denying a motion for self-representation, were not good law after Godinez. In light of Godinez, we explained, the trial court had erred in requiring that the defendant “possess some minimal ability to represent himself . . . .” (Welch, at p. 734.) More recently, in People v. Halvorsen (2007) 42 Cal.4th 379, 432 [64 Cal.Rptr.3d 721, 165 P.3d 512], we held a trial court had erred in denying the defendant’s motion to represent himself at a penalty retrial on the ground the defendant “lacked the mental capacity to represent himself . . . .” Under Godinez, the Faretta right “may be asserted by any defendant competent to stand trial,” making the trial court’s use of a higher standard erroneous. (Halvorsen, at p. 433.) The federal high court next addressed Faretta competence standards, 15 years after Godinez, in Edwards, supra, 554 U.S. 164 [128 S.Ct. 2379]. Charged in Indiana state court with attempted murder and other crimes, Edwards was twice found incompetent to stand trial because of his schizophrenia and delusions. After his second hospitalization, he was returned to court as competent. The trial court denied his request for self-representation, however, and denied his renewed request when he was retried after a partially hung jury; the court noted his lengthy psychiatric history and found he still suffered from schizophrenia and, while competent to stand trial, was not competent to defend himself. The Indiana appellate courts ordered a new trial on the ground that Faretta, supra, 422 U.S. 806, and Godinez, supra, 509 U.S. 389, required the state to permit Edwards to represent himself. (Edwards, at pp. - [128 S.Ct. at pp. 2382-2383].) The Supreme Court reversed, holding “the Constitution permits States to insist upon representation by counsel for those competent enough to stand trial under Dusky but who still suffer from severe mental illness to the point where they are not competent to conduct trial proceedings by themselves.” (Edwards, supra, 554 U.S. at p._[128 S.Ct. at p. 2388].) The court did not overrule Godinez, instead distinguishing it on two grounds. First, the defendant in Godinez “sought only to change his pleas to guilty, he did not seek to conduct trial proceedings, and his ability to conduct a defense at trial was expressly not at issue.” (Edwards, supra, 554 U.S. at p. _ [128 S.Ct. at p. 2385].) Second, “Godinez involved a State that sought to permit a gray-area defendant to represent himself. Godinez’s constitutional holding is that a State may do so. But that holding simply does not tell a State whether it may deny a gray-area defendant the right to represent himself — the matter at issue here.” (Ibid.) On the merits of the question, the high court observed that the Dusky standard for competence to stand trial assumes the defendant will be defending through counsel. The competence case law thus suggests that defending oneself in the absence of an attorney “calls for a different standard.” (Edwards, supra, 554 U.S. at p._[128 S.Ct. at p. 2386].) Moreover, “[m]ental illness itself is not a unitary concept. ... In certain instances an individual may well be able to satisfy Dusky’s mental competence standard, for he will be able to work with counsel at trial, yet at the same time he may be unable to carry out the basic tasks needed to present his own defense without the help of counsel.” (Ibid.) When a defendant who lacks the necessary mental capacity attempts to represent himself, the resulting trial is likely neither to be, nor to appear, fair. “The application of Dusky’s basic mental competence standard can help in part to avoid this result. But given the different capacities needed to proceed to trial without counsel, there is little reason to believe that Dusky alone is sufficient.” (554 U.S. at p._[128 S.Ct. at p. 2387].) The court in Edwards did not hold, contra to Godinez, that due process mandates a higher standard of mental competence for self-representation than for trial with counsel. The Edwards court held only that states may, without running afoul of Faretta, impose a higher standard, a result at which Godinez had hinted by its reference to possibly “more elaborate” state standards. (Godinez, supra, 509 U.S. at p. 402.) “In light of Edwards, it is clear . . . that we are free to adopt for mentally ill or mentally incapacitated defendants who wish to represent themselves at trial a competency standard that differs from the standard for determining whether such a defendant is competent to stand trial. It is equally clear, however, that Edwards does not mandate the application of such a dual standard of competency for mentally ill defendants. In other words, Edwards did not alter the principle that the federal constitution is not violated when a trial court permits a mentally ill defendant to represent himself at trial, even if he lacks the mental capacity to conduct the trial proceedings himself, if he is competent to stand trial and his waiver of counsel is voluntary, knowing and intelligent.” (State v. Connor (2009) 292 Conn. 483 [973 A.2d 627, 650].) Edwards thus does not support a claim of federal constitutional error in a case like the present one, in which defendant’s request to represent himself was granted. In part III.C.2