Legal Question in Criminal Law in California

Re: can a judge make the defense go to trail even though the defense has indicat

The judge can make you go to trial even if you say you are not ready. It is an issue to appeal, but unfortunately, the appeal will come after the trial. Talk to your attorney and make sure that your objections include a federal denial of due process and right to effective assistance of counsel (if your counsel isn't ready then you can't have effective assistance of counsel).

Good luck.

Re: can a judge make the defense go to trail even though the defense has indicat

If a defendant could decide when his trial could start, cases would drag on forever. Judges need to be reasonable about defense counsel's time requirements, but at some point the court has to say that there will be no more extensions.

A judge's decision about trial scheduling is not appealable. There is an option called a writ petition, by which the defendant can ask the appellate court to intervene and order the trial court to grant more time. A writ petition can also ask the Court of Appeal to temporarily stay the case in the trial court while the writ is pending. If the appellate court agrees, then the case will not go to trial before the Court of Appeal issues its decision.

Such a petition will only work if the defendant has a *very* good reason why more time should be allowed and if the trial court's decision was unreasonable; even then, the appellate court does not have to intervene.