People v. Schneider

In People v. Schneider (1979) 95 Cal.App.3d 671, defense counsel claimed two psychiatrists examined Schnieder and concluded he was not then competent to stand trial. Counsel did not produce the reports. However, when offered a continuance by the court in order to do so, the attorney declined. Schneider held in such circumstances the court had reason to discount counsel's allegations. Here the situation is reversed. Trial counsel represented an examining physician would conclude Sundberg was not mentally competent to stand trial and requested a continuance to allow further examination, yet the court in substance refused the request. While nowhere in the record does there appear a denial, yet the court's failure to act was in effect a denial. The court's response was to conduct its own examination of Sundberg and to come to a patently irrelevant conclusion that Sundberg was oriented to time and place and therefore competent to stand trial.