Does a defendant have the right to testify on his own behalf?

Defendant contends the trial court denied him his right to testify on his own behalf. It did not. It had previously informed defendant he would have to decide by the next day of trial whether he wanted to testify. When the time came to announce that decision, his attorney stated she was not going to present any evidence. The trial court was entitled to rely upon counsel's statement and its inference that defendant had decided not to testify. " ' "[A] trial judge may safely assume that a defendant, who is ably represented and who does not testify is merely exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and is abiding by his counsel's trial strategy; otherwise, the judge would have to conduct a law seminar prior to every criminal trial." ' [Citation]" (People v. Alcala (1992) 4 Cal.4th 742, 805.)

Defendant made his request to the court after the close of testimony and after the case had been submitted to the jury. While that time may not necessarily have been too late to make such a request (see People v. Alcala, supra, 4 Cal.4th at pp. 805-806 [request by defendant to testify made after verdict had been rendered was too late]), here, the record suggests the request was ultimately withdrawn. After he made his request, the trial apparently paused as defendant and his attorney counseled together. Following that consultation, trial proceeded and the matter was not raised again. With no evidence suggesting otherwise, we must assume the issue was resolved between defendant and counsel. Otherwise, a statement to the contrary would have been put on the record and

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