Accused Tell of Being ‘Confused,’ ‘Afraid’ at Court Appearance

In an unusual complaint filed with the state Commission on Judicial Performance, the Orange County public defender’s office has charged that a judge systematically “trampled” on the rights of poor people.

The complaint details the cases of seven individuals who appeared last fall before Orange County Municipal Judge Claude E. Whitney, who prevented them from exercising their right to be represented by an attorney to keep misdemeanor cases from piling up in one of the county’s busiest arraignment courts.

Defendants say they were never asked if they desired an attorney as state law requires, and the complaint states that some individuals pleaded guilty without understanding the implications of their actions.

On Dec. 14, 1992, Municipal Court officials agreed to allow the seven defendants to withdraw their guilty pleas and possibly have the convictions erased from their records.

Here are the stories of six of the men and women as researched by the public defenders and detailed in the complaint:

‘I Was Not Sure What I Plead Guilty To’

JOE MONTOYA, 35, of Orange, unemployed and homeless, appeared before Whitney on Nov. 9, 1992, on a charge of being under the influence of a controlled substance. He was also facing charges of failing to provide for his three children, and violating the terms of his probation on an earlier drunk driving charge. Montoya said Whitney spent less than 60 seconds on his case before sentencing him to 90 days in jail for the narcotics charge and ordering him to serve half of a 120-day sentence for the probation violation.

In the rush, Montoya pleaded guilty to everything--including a case in which he was not even named. A clerk later brought Montoya back in to court to change the court minutes. Details are not available because the court clerk’s office said late last week it was unable to locate Montoya’s court file.

In his signed declaration, Montoya says he pleaded guilty because he was afraid.

“I was very confused when in court,” he wrote. “There were many charges and I was not sure what I plead guilty to. I plead guilty because I believed there was no choice. . . . I also was not aware I could talk with an attorney that day.”

Montoya said he also was not told that he might be eligible for a counseling program for first-time drug offenders that could have placed him in rehabilitation instead of a jail cell.

‘I Feel I Was Treated Unfairly’

TAMMY L. HINDS, 31, of Stanton also appeared before Judge Whitney on Nov. 9, 1992, facing several charges, including concealing a stolen handgun and sale of methamphetamine. She was also facing an unrelated felony charge of transporting drugs.

Hinds says that Whitney called her case, and offered her a 30-day jail sentence for violating her probation on an earlier charge of driving without a license. She entered a guilty plea to that charge and to four additional charges and was ordered to complete a 30-day sentence for each.

It was not until she returned to the jail, however, that she discovered she had been sentenced to 150 days in jail, not 30 as she thought. She had never been told by the judge that the sentences would run consecutively.

“I feel I was treated unfairly,” according to a statement signed by Hinds, who also said she had not been made aware she had a right to speak with an attorney.

Immigrant Was Scared He’d Be Deported

CARLOS VINICIO GIRON, an immigrant from El Salvador who does not speak English, said he did not understand the charges he was facing when he appeared before Whitney last fall, and no one translated the charges into Spanish, his native language.

He mistakenly believed he was in custody in connection with a restraining order his wife had taken out against him, when in fact he was being arraigned on spousal abuse charges.

Giron said in a signed statement he did not understand the significance of a guilty plea, but pleaded guilty anyway when Judge Whitney said he would be sent back to jail for two weeks if he pleaded not guilty.

Giron said he was never told he had the right to an attorney. He said he was never advised he risked deportation if he entered a guilty plea. He was also not told that prosecutors routinely drop charges against first-time offenders in such domestic dispute cases if they successfully complete a counseling program.

Giron’s case was handled in less than 45 seconds.

Judge ‘Just Kept Giving Me More Time’

DEBRA G. BROWN, a 38-year-old transient, was sentenced by Whitney to 10 days in jail on Aug. 6, 1992, for a probation violation that never occurred, according to the complaint. In 1990, Brown had been sentenced to community service and ordered to take an AIDS test after being arrested on a lewd conduct charge. She never performed the community service, but her sentence was modified to eliminate that requirement when she was arrested some time before her August, 1992, appearance in Whitney’s court. Whitney nonetheless sentenced her to 10 days in jail for failing to complete the community service.

When she appeared before Whitney again on Nov. 6 on two prostitution charges, she said she agreed to enter guilty pleas, even though she had asked to speak to an attorney and was never provided one.

“I didn’t understand what was happening. . . . The judge just kept reading off cases and giving me more time. I felt once I had plead guilty in the first case, I was committed to guilty pleas on the rest. While I was in the tank, I asked if I could talk with an attorney and was informed someone would check on it. . . . I felt I had little choice once in front of the judge. Everything went so fast,” Brown wrote in her complaint.

‘Everything Happened So Quickly’

CARLA J. BARCUS, 23, of Garden Grove is destitute and HIV-positive. Barcus was sentenced to 45 days in jail for failing to make restitution on a bad check, even though the check had never been passed and there was no actual loss.

Defense attorneys also said a destitute person cannot be jailed because he or she is unable to pay restitution or a fine.

“I was never informed that I had a right to speak with an attorney before entering a plea,” Barcus said in her complaint. “By the time the judge called my name, I didn’t know what to expect or what to do. . . . Everything happened so quickly I was totally confused.”

Not-Guilty Plea Meant ‘I’d Get a Year’

RAYMOND B. YAPELLI, 28, of Adelanto, an 11th-grade dropout who said he has trouble understanding written documents because he cannot read well, said he was coerced into pleading guilty and accepting a nine-month jail term on Nov. 9 while appearing before Whitney.

Yapelli, who was charged with driving with a suspended license with several prior offenses, said he was not advised of his right to an attorney.

“I said not guilty. The judge said, ‘When you come back, I’m gonna give you a year,’ ” Yapelli said in his statement, where he estimated that the judge spent less than 30 seconds on his case.

“I then changed my mind and told the judge I wanted to plead guilty. I did this because I was afraid I’d get a year.”