Judge warns SLO County woman not to represent herself in election fraud case
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge Covello warned Powell she lacks legal knowledge to represent herself.
- Powell insists on self-representation, claiming political motivation in charges.
- Court postponed decision on Powell's counsel until September 22 hearing.
Former two-time Arroyo Grande mayoral candidate Gaea Powell — who has been charged with nine counts of election and voter fraud, including eight felonies relating to both campaigns — got into a disagreement with the judge assigned to her case Monday over her ability to represent herself in court.
Powell said she wants to exercise her constitutional right by excusing her court-appointed public defender and instead representing herself in what she sees as a “politically motivated” case, but Judge Timothy Covello said he has “significant concerns” about her doing so.
“It’s clear to the court that you don’t have an understanding of the processes of the court,” Covello said in the courtroom on Monday. “You’ve had no legal training. You’ve never represented yourself before.”
But Powell still holds that only she — not a legal “mouthpiece” — can speak for her.
“This is a political case,” Powell told The Tribune. “It’s all pomp and show. It’s a bogus case.”
She said that no public defender will understand that the case is “politically motivated” against her and that investigators are looking at the discovery with “confirmation bias” in an attempt to indict her.
“I have my own evidence,” Powell said, which she feels she can use to more easily defend herself against the District Attorney’s Office’s “quote ‘evidence.’“
“(District Attorney) Dan Dow has maliciously weaponized his public integrity unit to manufacture a false case against me — to silence me and ruin my life,” Powell said in a handwritten statement to The Tribune. “His motives are political.”
She called for a civil grand jury to investigate Dow for targeting specific defendants, making reference to Tianna Arata, the Black Lives Matter protester Dow charged with 13 misdemeanors in 2020 after Dow’s wife sent out a campaign email seeking donations to help Dow fight the “wacky defund the police movement.”
She previously made similar accusations against Dow with regard to this case, which he had responded to.
“I and my staff are committed to our mission, ‘to bring justice and safety to our community by aggressively and fairly prosecuting crime and protecting the rights of crime victims,’” Dow previously told The Tribune. “In our search for the truth in every case, we follow the evidence wherever and to whomever it leads. We will respond to Ms. Powell’s allegations in the courtroom if she raises them there.”
Judge does not find woman accused of election fraud fit to represent herself
At the beginning of Powell’s pre-preliminary hearing on Monday, Deputy DA Ben Blumenthal informed Covello that Powell had requested to represent herself moving forward, and provided emails to the judge for his review. Covello then called a recess to review the emails.
Powell was previously represented by public defender Andrew Jennings.
In the emails, obtained by The Tribune, Powell not only stated her intent to defend herself moving forward, but also requested a court interpreter to help her understand her rights, the laws and processes of the court.
“I am not an officer of the court, nor do I have the ‘voluminous’ advantages of the legal resources the DA’s Office benefits from, so I will represent myself utilizing common law to guarantee I am provided legal information that I can easily understand, as our Constitution protects my right to do so as a citizen of the United States of America,” she wrote in an email to Blumenthal and Deputy DA Eric Dobroth.
She specifically requested this interpreter be “obviously, not a public defender as I will speak for myself.”
She also requested that all discovery in printed format — as well as all audio, video and/or digital data — be sent to her as soon as possible, along with a list of anyone who reviewed the data, noting this was the “highest priority.”
“This is all new to me and I am learning to navigate,” she wrote in the email. “... I realize there may be court rules that I am not aware of, but I reserve my right to serve as my own attorney.”
Covello returned from recess after having read these emails convinced Powell was not fit to represent herself.
“The court has very significant concern of your ability to represent yourself, because what you’re representing in this request itself is a lack of understanding of the processes,” Covello told Powell. “When you represent yourself in a court of law, you are functioning as your own attorney, and you’re held to the same standards as an attorney.”
Covello explained that means if she enters motions that are not cognizable by the law, they’ll just be denied. If she does not file notices and or compile discovery in a timely or appropriate fashion, she could face penalties, he said.
“The court can’t explain all of those things to you, and we’re not going to appoint someone to explain those things to you, because that’s why we appoint lawyers to explain them,” Covello said.
Advisory counsel appointments, which is what Powell was requesting, are extremely rare and are typically not approved for election cases, Dobroth told The Tribune.
Powell still held her ground, stating that she had “no confidence” in Jennings or anyone else’s ability to represent her in this particular case.
“I am not guilty of any of these charges,” Powell started to say, when Covello interrupted her.
“I don’t need to hear a plea right now,” he said.
“I just wanted to explain myself,” she said, cutting off the judge.
Covello ultimately concluded Powell was making a Marsden motion, asking if this was her intent, though she never used that legal language.
A Marsden motion is a request by a defendant to have the court remove their court-appointed public defender and replace them with another attorney due to inadequate representation or a conflict. A request for advisory counsel is also not covered by a Marsden motion.
Notably, Judge Covello did not say Powell wanted to make a Faretta motion, which is a request to represent oneself.
When asked by The Tribune after court if she still would like to defend herself given the judge’s responses, she said “yes.”
Covello delayed his decision to a later time. The issue will be taken up again at 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning, Sept. 22, in Department 5 of the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
