The State - News from Aug. 15, 1985

A federal appeals court reversed the attempted murder and robbery convictions of a San Quentin inmate, saying that he “was denied communication with the outside world” in his effort to prepare his own defense. Johnny B. Milton was convicted of robbery and three counts of attempted murder in a 1978 robbery of a San Francisco bar and a knife slashing attack on three bar employees. Milton attempted to act as his own attorney when a San Francisco Superior Court judge, the late Walter Calcagno, refused to replace his public defender. Milton claimed that a conflict of interest existed on the part of his court-appointed attorney. In order to prepare his own defense in 1978, Milton was permitted six long distance phone calls and seven local calls per day, but was not given a telephone directory by jailers so he was unable to acquire an expert witness and an investigator authorized by the court. The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered that Milton be released.