In Barner v. Leeds (2000) 24 Cal.4th 676, the court held that Government Code section 820.2 could not be asserted as a defense to a claim that a deputy public defender committed legal malpractice. (Id. at pp. 679--680.) The opinion rested on the premise that "the acts or omissions of a deputy public defender in representing a defendant in a criminal action do not involve the type of basic policy decisions that are insulated from liability." (Ibid.)