Convict Granted New Hearing in ’80 Double Murder : Courts: Ninth Circuit rules judge must decide whether counsel for North Hollywood man was incompetent.

A North Hollywood man who was once on Death Row for killing a father and son was granted a new hearing by a federal appeals court Wednesday in his challenge to his murder convictions.

Kenneth Crandell, who is serving a life-without-parole sentence for the 1980 slayings, contends he wound up representing himself at his trial because of incompetence by his public defender, who met with him shortly after his appointment and then failed to contact him for almost two months.

State courts rejected Crandell’s claim, and U.S. District Judge William Rea of Los Angeles turned him down without a hearing. But the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2 to 1 that Rea must hold a hearing and decide whether Crandell’s lawyer was incompetent.

Citing Crandell’s claim that his lawyer had done nothing to prepare a defense, the court said, “The lawyer’s delay might have been perfectly normal, or it might not. . . . We can only say that the two-month delay is unusual enough within our experience to raise doubts about the lawyer’s competence.”

Crandell, now 60, was convicted of murdering Ernest Pruett and his son, Edward, 14, in the San Fernando Valley home he shared with them in July, 1980. He also was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape against Pruett’s 15-year-old daughter.

Witnesses said Crandell had been drinking vodka at home with Ernest Pruett, who accused him of cheating at work and said he planned to evict him. Later that night, he shot Edward Pruett and shot and strangled Ernest. Crandell said Ernest had attacked him, but the jury didn’t believe it.

The state Supreme Court voted 4 to 3 to overturn Crandell’s death sentence in 1988 but upheld his murder convictions by a different 4-3 majority. He was resentenced to life without parole after prosecutors decided against a new penalty trial.

Crandell acted as his own lawyer after telling Municipal Court Judge Morton Rochman that he hadn’t heard from his public defender for almost two months.

Rochman refused to appoint a private lawyer and also refused to name a lawyer to advise Crandell while he handled the case. Then-Superior Court Judge Armand Arabian, now a state Supreme Court justice, also refused to appoint an advisory lawyer.