Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ca-court-of-appeal/1389896.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 19:00:47+00:00

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The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Jemal M. KASIM, Defendant and Appellant. IN RE: Jemal M. KASIM, on Habeas Corpus.
Russell S. Babcock, San Diego, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Keith I. Motley, Jeffrey J. Koch and Warren P. Robinson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
A jury convicted Jemal Kasim of one count of conspiracy to commit aggravated mayhem (Pen.Code,2 §§ 182, subd. 1), 205 and one count of aggravated mayhem (§ 205). The trial court sentenced Kasim to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
In this consolidated appeal and petition for writ of habeas corpus proceeding, Kasim seeks to overturn his convictions principally on the ground of prosecutorial misconduct, to wit, withholding of critical discoverable evidence that would have impugned the credibility of the prosecution's two main witnesses, who also were accomplices; presenting knowingly false testimony; and making misrepresentations in closing argument. We issued an order to show cause, appointed a referee and directed the referee to take evidence and make findings of fact concerning 22 areas of inquiry.
After an evidentiary hearing, the referee found the trial prosecutor did not disclose during discovery information, which the prosecutor either knew or should have known, about benefits received by the accomplice-witnesses.3 Also, the referee found that in light of the prosecutor's unusual efforts to assist one of the witnesses in avoiding deportation, the prosecutor was not justified in eliciting trial testimony from the accomplice-witnesses that they (i) had not received any promises for their testimony in the case and (ii) believed the San Diego County District Attorney's Office intended to prosecute them for their involvement in the case. Further, the referee found that the prosecutor misrepresented his intentions when he told the jury in closing argument that the accomplice-witnesses would be prosecuted. The referee also found that a police detective did not comply with the trial court's directive to disclose his past dealings with the accomplice-witnesses by failing to reveal, among other things, that he had attended a felony sentencing for one of the witnesses and had written a letter of recommendation on behalf of this witness.
After summarizing the facts underlying Kasim's conviction, we set forth the referee's pertinent findings with respect to the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct during discovery and trial. As explained below, because we find there was prejudicial prosecutorial misconduct, we grant the petition for writ of habeas corpus and reverse the judgment for a new trial.
Kasim, who came to the United States in 1976 from his native Kurdistan, was active in local Kurdish politics and became the leader of the Kurdish Democratic Party in California. Abdul Mustafa, who also immigrated to the United States from Kurdistan in 1976 and was active in local Kurdish politics, knew Kasim. Mustafa decreased his involvement in the local community activities but continued to provide information to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about Kurdish and Middle Eastern affairs. Kasim and Mustafa had a falling-out in 1989.
Kasim owned a small produce store in National City and became friendly with the Gonzalez family, who lived nearby. Enrique Gonzalez was a member of the “Southside Mob” gang in National City; his younger brother Arturo also was a member of the gang. Kasim recruited Enrique Gonzalez to assault and injure Mustafa. In the fall of 1989, Kasim drove the Gonzalez brothers to Mustafa's produce store in La Mesa; when they arrived, Kasim told Arturo Gonzalez to go into the store and buy candy from “an Arabian guy.” Arturo did as he was instructed and when he returned to the car, Kasim told him to describe the “Arabian guy” to his brother.
After some failed attempts, Enrique Gonzalez reported back to Kasim that he was unable to get close enough to Mustafa to assault him. Gonzalez suggested Mustafa could be shot in the legs from a distance. Kasim agreed. Gonzalez recruited two other “Southside Mob” gang members-Simon Jara and Matthew Miner-as well as Elliot Limbrick to carry out the attack on Mustafa. Miner agreed to do the actual shooting.
On October 26, 1989, Miner and Gonzalez approached Mustafa's store while Jara and Limbrick waited in Miner's car. Miner, armed with a shotgun, walked up to Mustafa, who was standing on the steps outside his store, and shot him in the right leg from close range. Mustafa tumbled down the steps. Miner fired a second shot into Mustafa's left hip and stomach. Mustafa lost his right leg as a result of the shooting and was hospitalized for two months. At the time of the shooting, Mustafa had “a lot of cash in [his] pocket” and there was money in the cash register, but there was no attempt to rob him.
The following morning Kasim went to the Gonzalez residence, told Enrique he had done a “ ‘good job’ ” and gave him six $100 bills. Gonzalez gave $100 to Limbrick and $200 to Jara-$100 for Jara himself and $100 for Miner.
During the fall or winter of 1989, Gonzalez confided to National City Police Detective Mark Musgrove that he had been hired by an “Arab guy to go beat up another Arab guy.” Musgrove, who believed that the assault had not yet occurred, advised Gonzalez not to become involved. During this time frame, Musgrove saw Gonzalez with a “wad” of money.
The trial of Kasim and Miner began in June 1994; Gonzalez and Jara were key prosecution witnesses. They admitted their respective roles in the incident and detailed Miner's conduct. Gonzalez also specified Kasim's role. Both Gonzalez and Jara testified that no deals had been made for their testimony other than that they would be charged and the district attorney's office would be fair.
Kasim, who testified in his own defense, was convicted of conspiracy to commit aggravated mayhem and aggravated mayhem; he was acquitted of attempted murder. During direct examination, Kasim denied plotting with Gonzalez to assault Mustafa and testified he never trusted Gonzalez. During cross-examination, the prosecutor impeached Kasim with a check made out by Kasim to a bail bondsman on behalf of Gonzalez. Outside the presence of the jury, Kasim's counsel moved for a mistrial, complaining that the prosecutor had not turned over the check and a bail receipt as part of discovery and had used the evidence “to sandbag” Kasim on cross-examination. The trial court found there was no discovery violation and denied the motion for a mistrial.
Miner, who did not testify, was acquitted on all charges.
Gonzalez and Jara were not charged in connection with the attack on Mustafa until July 1996, after this court ordered an evidentiary hearing on the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct.
On April 11, 1994, Cotsirilos filed a discovery motion, again requesting information on benefits received or promised to Gonzalez.
Also, on June 13, 1994, the trial court conducted an in-camera hearing on the discovery issues, which was attended by Fitzpatrick, District Attorney Investigator Vincent Krolikowski and Detective Musgrove. Fitzpatrick told the court Gonzalez's contacts with Musgrove over the years were informal-“nothing that ever amounted to an informant status.” Fitzpatrick also told the court Jara had worked as a confidential informant for a special police unit in 1992. Musgrove testified he had arrested Gonzalez for attempted murder for a different incident in 1992. (See fn. 6, post.) Musgrove denied ever giving Gonzalez and Jara any monetary compensation other than buying them a hamburger or burrito. Except for the following comment, Musgrove testified he had not given any benefits to Gonzalez: “The only thing I told Enrique in that particular case [the 1992 attempted murder case] was that-I tried to get word to him through his family that he needed to turn himself in and that he should do it to me, because he knew that although he had to go to jail, he wouldn't be roughed up.” 6 The trial court ruled this information should be provided to the defense and Musgrove was directed to write a supplemental report for the defense.
On June 22, 1994, Cotsirilos again expressed concern about inadequate discovery. Cotsirilos said he was “seeking knowledge as to whether [Gonzalez] is actively working or has been working during the relevant time periods on other cases as a confidential informant, and specifically whether he already has received benefits or promises of leniency in relationship to that status or expects to.” Fitzpatrick responded by arguing that any such information was privileged or irrelevant.
After these in-camera hearings (see fn. 7, ante ), the trial court ordered the prosecution to turn over all information relating to Gonzalez's and Jara's status as informants for any law enforcement agency, including all benefits received by Gonzalez and Jara as a result of their informant status.
The prosecution did not comply.
In response to Fitzpatrick's questions at trial, both Gonzalez and Jara testified they believed the district attorney's office was going to prosecute them for their involvement in the attack on Mustafa, and no promises had been made in return for their testimony in this case.
When Cotsirilos cross-examined Gonzalez, Gonzalez initially testified that Musgrove had never done anything for him and he was testifying “out of concern as a citizen” and “because of [his] conscience.” However, when Cotsirilos confronted Gonzalez with a transcript of the 1992 sentencing hearing, Gonzalez admitted that Musgrove had helped him avoid a presumptive state prison sentence of up to seven years and this was a benefit. Gonzalez also admitted that in the petty theft case he was allowed to spend 92 hours briefing Musgrove about gang activity in lieu of having his probation revoked.
In response to Cotsirilos's questions, Jara initially testified he “[felt] bad about what happened” to Mustafa and was testifying as a “good citizen.” Jara denied he had been promised leniency or benefits for his testimony. But when pressed, Jara admitted he had served only 180 days instead of a potential eight-year prison term for an assault with a deadly weapon that took place after the attack on Mustafa. Further, Jara admitted he violated his probation in August 1992 by possessing a weapon and associating with gang members, and the probation officer recommended three years in state prison, stating Jara was a “danger to society.” Jara conceded the fact that he did not have to spend any more time in jail whatsoever for the probation violation “might have” something to do with his cooperation with the district attorney's office as a confidential informant.
Outside the presence of the jury, the trial court also noted that Musgrove was less than forthcoming.
On August 22, 1994, Kasim filed a notice of appeal. On June 22, 1995, Kasim filed his opening appellate brief, which raised 14 assignments of error, including prosecutorial misconduct, insufficiency of the evidence and unreasonable pretrial delay. Concurrently, Kasim filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus regarding his allegations of prosecutorial misconduct: failing to disclose discoverable evidence; eliciting false testimony from Gonzalez and Jara that they expected to be charged with the same crimes; and misrepresenting to the jury that Gonzalez and Jara would be charged after the trial. The petition included an investigator's declaration that as of May 16, 1995, neither Gonzalez nor Jara had been charged in connection with the attack on Mustafa.
• Whether Fitzpatrick's written and oral communications with Kasim's trial counsel and with the trial court, including representations made in-camera, regarding discovery involving the informant status of Gonzalez and Jara, any benefits conferred on them by law enforcement and any deals or promises made to them in connection with this case were accurate, and, if not, what was the nature of each inaccuracy?
• Whether Detective Musgrove of the National City Police Department and District Attorney Investigator Krolikowski provided accurate testimony during the June 13, 1994 in-camera hearing, and, if not, what was the nature of each inaccuracy?
• Whether, at the time Fitzpatrick asked Gonzalez and Jara on direct examination if they were aware that the district attorney's office intended to prosecute them, the question accurately reflected the intentions of the office?
• Whether, at the time he questioned Gonzalez and Jara on direct examination if any promises had been made in return for their testimony, Fitzpatrick knew in advance that they would say no, and, if he did, was he justified in presenting such testimony to the jury?
• Whether, at the time Fitzpatrick in his closing argument told jurors that Gonzalez and Jara would be prosecuted after Kasim and Miner were convicted, the representation accurately reflected the intentions of the district attorney's office?
• Whether the district attorney's office was going to charge Gonzalez and Jara for their involvement in the attack against Mustafa, who in the office made the decision, when was the decision made and why was it made?
• What benefits had Gonzalez and Jara received in this case or in any other criminal case in exchange for providing information used by the prosecution in this case?
In June 1996, as a result of publicity surrounding the case, David Gappa, an attorney with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), wrote to the referee about Fitzpatrick's intervention in deportation proceedings against Gonzalez in 1994. According to Gappa, Gonzalez had been subject to deportation because of a January 1992 assault with a firearm conviction and that while the deportation proceeding was pending, Fitzpatrick had written two letters to Gonzalez's immigration lawyer concerning Gonzalez.9 Gappa further reported that on July 13, 1994, the immigration judge ordered Gonzalez deported. Gappa also revealed that on October 11, 1994, Fitzpatrick agreed to let Gonzalez withdraw his plea to the 1992 assault with a firearm conviction and substitute a plea to a lesser included offense and then have the conviction to the lesser offense expunged. Gonzalez's new immigration attorney had argued in the absence of the assault with a firearm conviction, Gonzalez was no longer deportable. Gonzalez has not been deported.
Meanwhile, on July 22, 1996, the district attorney filed a felony complaint against Gonzalez and Jara, charging each with conspiracy to commit aggravated mayhem and aggravated mayhem. Gonzalez and Jara were booked and released on their own recognizance on August 7, 1996.
The referee conducted the evidentiary hearing during the week of December 16, 1996 and heard testimony from 16 witnesses, including Fitzpatrick; Musgrove; INS attorney Gappa; Cotsirilos; former Assistant District Attorney Richard Neely; Assistant District Attorney Gregory Thompson; Gonzalez's counsel, Albert Arena; and Jara's former counsel, Larry Stoerts.
Fitzpatrick, who submitted a 22-page declaration, testified he made no promises to Gonzalez in exchange for his cooperation and testimony, and told Gonzalez he would be charged just as the other individuals and he had to trust the district attorney's office to be fair with him. According to Fitzpatrick, he took this position at the directive of Neely, then the second-in-command of the district attorney's office, with whom he discussed the case frequently. Fitzpatrick maintained that at all times he followed the instructions of his superiors-Neely and Keith Burt, then the head of the Gang Unit. The decision that Fitzpatrick should assist Gonzalez in having his criminal conviction expunged was made by Neely, who believed permanent deportation was too harsh of a punishment for Gonzalez and inconsistent with the promise Gonzalez would be treated fairly if he testified favorably at the Kasim trial.
Fitzpatrick further testified that although he knew Gonzalez was a member of the “Southside Mob” gang, Musgrove never told him that Gonzalez was a police informant. Fitzpatrick was aware in November 1991 that Gonzalez was arrested for attempted murder, but at Burt's direction he had no contact with the case or the sentencing. Fitzpatrick first learned of Musgrove's involvement in Gonzalez's prior criminal cases when Cotsirilos produced the court transcripts at trial when cross-examining Gonzalez.
Neely, who had difficulty recalling details of the case, testified he approved the no-deal arrangement with Gonzalez. Neely did not recall Fitzpatrick suggesting deportation was too harsh a disposition for Gonzalez; rather, Neely recalled the reason for the expungement was to ensure Gonzalez's availability to testify in a civil lawsuit brought by Mustafa.
Arena testified that Fitzpatrick communicated that Gonzalez would receive a “deal” in exchange for his testimony in the Kasim case. Arena, however, could not recall the precise nature of the deal, i.e., whether Gonzalez would not be prosecuted or if prosecuted he would not be incarcerated.10 Arena did recall that as part of the agreement Fitzpatrick had agreed to sanitize Gonzalez's criminal record so he would be able to remain permanently in the United States. Arena did not feel he had an obligation to tell the court that his client, Gonzalez, had lied on the witness stand when he testified there was no deal.
Stoerts testified no promises had been made to Jara in exchange for his testimony in the Kasim case.
Cotsirilos testified that when he confronted Arena, Arena implied he had some assurance Gonzalez would be taken care of.
Musgrove testified that during Kasim's trial he did not recall Gonzalez being assigned to perform 92 hours of public service work for the National City Police Department. Musgrove conceded in retrospect he should have disclosed that benefit and the fact he supported Gonzalez during a sentencing hearing in which Gonzalez was facing a state prison term and instead received probation.11 Musgrove acknowledged he wrote a letter of recommendation for Gonzalez but testified this was because Gonzalez wanted to get a job, not as a benefit for his cooperation in the Kasim case.
• Benefits received by Gonzalez included having his serious criminal record expunged, which allowed him to avoid deportation, remaining free of confinement and not having to answer for his conduct in this case until July 1996. Benefits received by Jara included remaining free of confinement and not having to answer for his conduct in this case until July 1996.
Serious charges of prosecutorial misconduct have been leveled in this proceeding. We examine these accusations carefully, aware that if established they undermine the fundamental core of our judicial system-a search for truth. We rely upon jurors to ascertain the truth and entrust them with the responsibility of determining whether an accused person is or is not guilty. At times, the decisions we ask jurors to make are particularly difficult and carry with them enormous consequences. Such was the nature of the task presented to this jury. If we expect jurors to do their job, they must be presented with the truth-not just part of the truth, but all of the truth. For if they are not, neither the trial participants nor the public will have confidence in the results.
“The duty of the district attorney is not merely that of an advocate. His duty is not to obtain convictions, but to fully and fairly present to the court the evidence material to the charge upon which the defendant stands trial, and it is the solemn duty of the trial judge to see that the facts material to the charge are fairly presented. [Citations.] In the light of the great resources at the command of the district attorney and our commitment that justice be done to the individual, restraints are placed on him to assure that the power committed to his care is used to further the administration of justice in our courts and not to subvert our procedures in criminal trials designed to ascertain the truth.
In applying these principles, we must not lose sight of the nature of the matter before us, namely the appeal of a specific criminal prosecution.14 The pivotal question, therefore, is: Did Jemal Kasim receive a fair trial? For the reasons that follow, we conclude he did not.
The factual record presented to this court clearly shows that law enforcement agencies (1) possessed significant exculpatory evidence bearing on the credibility of the key prosecution witnesses-for example, evidence that Gonzalez and Jara had received reduced sentences or escaped prosecution in their own criminal cases and had previously acted directly or indirectly as informants-and (2) failed to disclose it to the defense even in the face of repeated requests.
We need not dwell on the good or bad faith of Fitzpatrick and/or Musgrove in failing to disclose this exculpatory evidence, for as People v. Ruthford, supra, 14 Cal.3d at page 406, 121 Cal.Rptr. 261, 534 P.2d 1341, teaches, it does not matter whether such “a prosecutorial failure” is “intentional, negligent or inadvertent.” (See also Brady, supra, 373 U.S. at p. 87, 83 S.Ct. at pp. 1196-1197 [due process violation “irrespective of the good faith or bad faith of the prosecution”].) Here, error is amply demonstrated because there is no doubt that favorable evidence, which should have been made available to the defense, was suppressed.
We conclude the suppressed exculpatory evidence was material; in other words, we determine that had the evidence been properly disclosed to the defense, there is a reasonable probability of a different result. Simply put, Gonzalez and Jara were of paramount importance to the prosecution's case; the results of the trial depended to a very large extent on their credibility. As between Gonzalez and Jara, Gonzalez was even more critical. His testimony was essential to Kasim's conviction because he was the only one to have personal knowledge of Kasim's involvement and to have witnessed the shooting.
Moreover, Gonzalez and Jara were admitted accomplices, and the suppressed information related directly to their credibility. The law recognizes accomplice testimony as unreliable and requires it to be corroborated. (§ 1111; see also CALJIC Nos. 3.11 & 3.18.) The concept takes on added importance where, as here, the credibility of these accomplices was crucial to the prosecution's case. Gonzalez and Jara, both of whom had received lenient sentences in the past because of their cooperation with law enforcement and were facing life sentences in this case, had every reason to testify in a manner that would satisfy the prosecution, hoping to once again receive lenient treatment. The jury, which had to decide whether it could trust Gonzalez's and Jara's testimony, was entitled to know about all historical events bearing on these witnesses' propensity to be truthful or untruthful. Because evidence was suppressed, the factual underpinnings upon which the jury relied to make its critical decisions were seriously eroded.
The Attorney General's arguments under a traditional “harmless beyond a reasonable doubt” analysis are unpersuasive. “[W]here a defendant himself discovers before the end of his trial favorable information which the prosecution has failed to disclose, it is very difficult for the defendant to show prejudice,” writes the Attorney General. As we shall explain, it simply does not matter that Cotsirilos, Kasim's trial counsel-through his own initiative-had uncovered a good deal of the benefits bestowed on Gonzalez.
Second, as a result of the evidentiary hearing, we know that the extent of benefits conferred on these two accomplice-witnesses was greater than that exposed during trial by Cotsirilos. The benefits not revealed during trial included the highly unusual intervention by the district attorney's office in Gonzalez's deportation proceedings. While there is no evidence that Fitzpatrick knew about the deportation proceedings before Gonzalez's immigration attorney contacted him in the middle of the trial, the prosecutor wrote a letter to the immigration attorney on June 23, 1994, one day before Gonzalez's testimony. (See fn. 9, ante.) Thus, during the trial, Fitzpatrick, at the very least, made a decision to intervene in his witness's immigration proceeding-a clear benefit-and this should have been disclosed to the defense.
The duty to provide discovery is not limited to the time before trial; discovery is an ongoing responsibility, which extends throughout the duration of the trial and even after conviction. (See People v. Garcia (1993) 17 Cal.App.4th 1169, 1179, 22 Cal.Rptr.2d 545; Thomas v. Goldsmith (9th Cir.1992) 979 F.2d 746, 749-750.) Because of Fitzpatrick's conduct, Cotsirilos did not know (1) the district attorney's office had decided to help Gonzalez avoid deportation, and (2) at the same time Fitzpatrick was making verbal representations that Gonzalez's prosecution was imminent, his correspondence revealed that decisions about prosecuting Gonzalez had not yet been made. (See fn. 9, ante.) Had Cotsirilos known this, he undoubtedly would have vigorously cross-examined on this issue and used it as powerful evidence in urging the jury to reject Gonzalez's testimony.
Kasim argues his conviction also was tainted by false testimony by Gonzalez and Jara that they (1) had not received any benefits or promises in exchange for their testimony and (2) expected to be prosecuted for their involvement in the attack on Mustafa.
The prosecutor's constitutional duty to correct false testimony is based on principles similar to those underlying the duty to disclose exculpatory evidence. In Mooney v. Holohan (1935) 294 U.S. 103, 55 S.Ct. 340, 79 L.Ed. 791, the United States Supreme Court first held that a prosecutor's use of false testimony could constitute a denial of due process.
Mooney involved a knowing and intentional use of perjured testimony, which was related directly to the defendant's commission of the charged crime. Subsequently, the United States Supreme Court has expanded Mooney to cover perjury not suborned by the prosecutor (Alcorta v. Texas (1957) 355 U.S. 28, 78 S.Ct. 103, 2 L.Ed.2d 9), perjured statements not dealing with a substantive element of the prosecution's case (Napue v. Illinois (1959) 360 U.S. 264, 79 S.Ct. 1173, 3 L.Ed.2d 1217), and situations where the prosecutor did not know the testimony to be false, provided the prosecutor should have had that knowledge (Giglio v. United States, supra, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104).
Particularly instructive is Napue v. Illinois, supra, in which a prosecution witness falsely testified he had not received any promise of lenient treatment in exchange for his testimony, and the prosecutor failed to correct the false testimony. The high court reversed the conviction.
Also instructive is Giglio v. United States, supra, 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104, in which the high court held even when the trial prosecutor is not aware of a promised benefit made to a witness, the trial prosecutor is still obliged to correct the witness's false testimony that there was no promise.
“[A] conviction obtained by the knowing use of perjured testimony is fundamentally unfair, and must be set aside if there is any reasonable likelihood that the false testimony could have affected the judgment of the jury.” (United States v. Agurs, supra, 427 U.S. at p. 103, 96 S.Ct. at p. 2397, fn. omitted.) The same principle applies when the prosecution clearly should have known that the testimony was perjured.
In any event, there is no room for doubt that Fitzpatrick had decided to assist Gonzalez on the immigration matter by the time Gonzalez testified. Fitzpatrick therefore had actual knowledge of this benefit and certainly had a duty to correct false testimony by his witness in this regard. Not only did he fail to do this, his no-benefit questions conveyed the impression these witnesses were testifying out of a sense of civic responsibility. Because Fitzpatrick's improper conduct seriously impacted the jury's ability to fairly evaluate the evidence, the judgment of the jury has been undermined, thus requiring reversal.
Moreover, even without such a finding, the failure to disclose exculpatory evidence (see part II.A., ante ) and the use of perjured testimony (see part II.B., ante ) separately and collectively require reversal.
The remainder of the appeal is dismissed as moot.
FN2. All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.. FN2. All statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified.
3. The referee also found the prosecutor never told defense counsel that information the prosecutor deemed privileged existed, notwithstanding the prosecutor's testimony to the contrary during the evidentiary hearing.
4. Over the next three years, law enforcement had numerous contacts with Gonzalez and Jara that became relevant in later discovery motions, which served as the bases of the charges of prosecutorial misconduct.
5. Limbrick never has been arrested or charged in connection with the attack on Mustafa.
7. The trial court also conducted an in-camera hearing regarding the background of Jara on June 23, 1994. Law enforcement officials informed the court that Jara had acted as an informant in a sensitive operation and was continued on a grant of probation.
8. In our order, we designated Superior Court Judge David M. Gill, who was the trial court judge, as the special referee. Gill recused himself and Superior Court Judge William D. Mudd replaced Gill as the special referee who conducted the evidentiary hearing and made the factual determinations.
11. This testimony referred to the following two cases: (1) In January 1990, Gonzalez committed petty theft and the following month pled nolo contendre. (Case No. M592905.) In May 1990, Gonzalez was charged with violating the terms of his probation. On July 3, 1990, probation in the petty theft case was revoked, reinstated and modified to require 92 hours of volunteer work for the National City Police Department. (2) In November 1991, Gonzalez was arrested on attempted murder and related charges. (Case No. CR127590.) In January 1992, Gonzalez pled guilty to assault with a deadly weapon (lesser-included of attempted murder). On May 18, 1992, Gonzalez was sentenced to one year in jail and placed on three years of probation; Musgrove attended the sentencing hearing.Gonzalez was also arrested in August 1990 for assault with a deadly weapon; in November 1990, he pled guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to public service. (Case No. S51421.) Probation was revoked in November 1991.
12. The referee's findings did not reference Gonzalez's benefit relating to his probation revocation in 1990 when instead of being sent to jail on the revocation, his probation was modified to require 92 hours of public service work for the National City Police Department. Gonzalez complied by briefing Musgrove on gangs. This information was brought out during the trial when Cotsirilos cross-examined Gonzalez.
13. The prosecution of Kasim and Miner took place during the administration of District Attorney Edwin Miller. Pfingst, who had been elected to the position in 1994, took office on January 3, 1995.
14. We deny Kasim's various requests to take judicial notice of other cases in which Fitzpatrick was the prosecutor.
17. The Attorney General's argument that there was no misrepresentation in Fitzpatrick's closing argument because prosecution of Gonzalez and Jara was contemplated only if both Kasim and Miner were convicted is belied by Fitzpatrick's testimony at the evidentiary hearing disowning such a theory and the referee's factual findings.
18. In light of this conclusion, we need not address Kasim's claims of prosecutorial misconduct regarding the prosecution's failure to turn over his check to and receipt from the bail bondsman as part of discovery.
FOOTNOTE. See footnote 1, ante.
BENKE, Acting P.J., and NARES, J., concur.

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