Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/supreme-court/3d/23/329.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 15:48:32+00:00

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Evelle J. Younger, Attorney General, Jack R. Winkler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Edward P. O'Brien, Assistant Attorney General, Clifford K. Thompson, Jr., and Ann K. Jensen, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
On the evening of October 5, 1976, Florence Spencer, the owner of a cafe in North Richmond, was robbed. She testified that she went to her cafe between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. to close it for the night and to collect the day's receipts. She parked her car in front of a building adjacent to the cafe. As she walked from her car to the cafe, she saw two men standing in front of a telephone booth located about 10 to 15 feet from the front door of the cafe. At trial, she identified the two men as James Johnson and appellant. Although she stated that she had known appellant and his family for many years, she referred to him throughout the trial as Samuel Whitaker. fn. 1 She did not speak to either of the two men; nor did they speak to her. Although there were other people outside the cafe, she did not know who they were because she "wasn't paying any attention."
When she came out of the cafe with the day's receipts, someone grabbed her purse. She held on to the purse and, as a result, was pulled down and dragged about eight feet. The assailant fled with the purse. Before Spencer got up, she fired two shots at the assailant with a .38 caliber gun which she had in a paper bag. The assailant ran between the cafe and another building and disappeared.
The Contra Costa Sheriff's Department was called. While awaiting their arrival, Spencer followed the path the assailant had taken and discovered her purse and money in the alley behind the buildings. When [23 Cal. 3d 333] the officers arrived, she told them that appellant was the perpetrator of the robbery and that he was wearing a gold-brown shirt with brown flowers or dots. Later that evening she identified appellant's picture in a photographic line-up. She also made an in-court identification of appellant as her assailant.
Leonard Stockwell, a friend of Spencer's, testified that he had accompanied Spencer to the cafe that evening. He stated that his purpose in doing so was to see that she safely got in her car after collecting the money from the business. He testified that, as he was about to get in his car, he heard Spencer scream and saw her being robbed. He stated that the person who robbed Spencer had been standing in front of the telephone booth. Although Stockwell had been standing outside the cafe when Spencer came out, he was unable to identify appellant as the robber.
Marjorie and Stylin Woodard, appellant's parents, testified on his behalf that appellant had been home in North Richmond that evening. At 11:30 p.m. he left to go out for a sandwich at the Ace of Clubs in North Richmond. At the time, appellant was wearing a pair of faded blue jeans and a white tee-shirt. When appellant returned home about midnight, his parents noticed that he was limping. They asked him what had happened and he replied that he had heard shooting and, fearing that shots were being fired in his direction, jumped for cover behind a car.
Mr. Woodard testified that he examined appellant's injury, which was in the buttock area. Although he was familiar with gunshot wounds from his 21 years in the Army, he stated appellant's injury did not look like a gunshot wound. Nevertheless, he decided to take appellant to the hospital after his daughter informed them that Spencer claimed to have shot appellant.
James Johnson was the last witness called and he testified for appellant under subpoena. He stated that he had been in the immediate area of the cafe but had not noticed Spencer arrive. However, he did see Spencer come out of the cafe while he was talking to a man and a woman near the cafe. He testified he had known appellant for about one year but "we don't run together or anything." Johnson saw the robbery and was certain that the perpetrator was not appellant.
Johnson further testified that he approached Spencer immediately after the incident, picked up her keys from the sidewalk and handed them to her. As he did so, Spencer asked: "Who is that, Jimmy?" Johnson replied he did not know. Spencer then stated: "Well, I know who he is."
Out of the presence of the jury, appellant's attorney moved to exclude evidence of Johnson's prior felony convictions for voluntary manslaughter (Pen. Code, § 192, subd. 1) in 1971 and for felon in possession of a concealable firearm (Pen. Code, § 12021) in 1975. The trial judge denied the motion, ruling that since the appellate courts had not held that this was "a matter of constitutional magnitude, then this trial court should obey the mandate of the legislature." He went on to state that he felt "our justice is getting further and further away from being even-handed and becoming a one-sided battle. ... They foreclose the prosecution from finding out anything about the defense or the defense witnesses, whereas the defense has complete access as to what the prosecution is going to do. ... Hopefully, someday they will equalize the battle." The prosecution then asked Johnson about his convictions in the presence of the jury.
During the nearly six hours of deliberations, the testimony of Spencer and Johnson was reread to the jurors at their request. Subsequently, the jury returned a guilty verdict of second degree robbery (former Pen. Code, § 211a). Appellant appeals from the judgment entered following this conviction.
Moreover, even felony convictions which are relevant to establish truthfulness are not equally probative of that issue. "No one denies that different felonies have different degrees of probative value on the issue of credibility. Some, such as perjury, are intimately connected with that issue; others, such as robbery and burglary, are somewhat less relevant; and '"Acts of violence ... generally have little or no direct bearing on honesty and veracity."'" (People v. Rollo, supra, 20 Cal.3d at p. 118.) Therefore, if a court determines that a prior conviction involves truthfulness, it must consider the "degree of probative value" it has on that issue when ruling on a Beagle motion.
The Attorney General contends that the balancing process required by section 352 does not apply when the witness to be impeached is not the accused in a criminal case. He argues that Beagle and its progeny involved witnesses who were defendants in criminal cases and that no prejudice results when a witness other than a defendant is impeached by evidence of prior felony convictions.
It is correct that the Beagle line of cases from this court have involved witnesses who were also criminal defendants. However, the analysis underlying those decisions was premised on sections 352 and 788, which, when "read together ... clearly provide discretion to the trial judge to exclude evidence of prior felony convictions when their probative value on credibility is outweighed by the risk of undue prejudice." (People v. Beagle, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 453.) Neither of these statutes is limited in its application to criminal defendants. To the contrary, section 788 refers to a "witness" generally, and there is no mention of criminal defendants on the face of either statute or in the accompanying comments of the Law Revision Commission which proposed them. Moreover, when this court held in Beagle that section 788 did not require the automatic admission of every prior felony conviction, it did not rely on the type of witness to be impeached. This court reasoned that (1) section 788 contains the [23 Cal. 3d 338] permissive word "may" rather than the mandatory word "shall" in authorizing the admission of prior felony convictions to impeach credibility and (2) the discretion conferred on the trial court by section 352 to exclude evidence is a "general provision" of the Evidence Code, applicable to "evidence admissible under other provisions thereof." (People v. Beagle, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 452.) The class of witness to be impeached is irrelevant.
Although this court has identified considerations relating to prejudice which are especially significant in criminal actions where the witness is the defendant, nothing in these cases supports the argument that these special considerations are the only factors relating to prejudice or that these considerations are of no import when the witness to be impeached is not the accused in a criminal case. It may be true that a nonparty witness suffers no legally cognizable prejudice by impeachment with prior felony convictions and he may not refuse to testify on this ground. However, a party in a case, civil or criminal, may nevertheless be prejudiced by the admission of a nonparty witness' prior felony convictions. Where the resolution of a critical issue depends on whose testimony is to be believed, a jury may act arbitrarily and give little weight to the testimony of a witness whose character has been brought into question by the introduction of prior felony convictions. If the witness is called by a defendant in a criminal trial, a reasonable doubt may be resolved against the accused because he associates with felons, even though the prosecution has not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the offense. This is especially true in alibi or mistaken identity situations where the only witness supporting the defense theory is a witness who has suffered prior felony convictions.
In addition, the possibility of prejudice may influence a party so that a witness, who might otherwise present relevant evidence, is not called. In such cases, the trier of fact would be deprived of probative, competent evidence in the same manner as it is when a criminal defendant elects not to testify due to prior felony convictions. This has an "adverse effect on the administration of justice," because it hinders the trier of fact in its ascertainment of the truth. (People v. Rist, supra, 16 Cal.3d at p. 222.) Therefore, in addition to the harm suffered by a party, the search for truth in our system of justice is impeded when prior felony convictions are improperly admitted to impeach the credibility of a nonparty witness.
 Accordingly, the discretion called for by section 352 and by the Beagle line of decisions of this court must be exercised whenever a [23 Cal. 3d 339] party -- plaintiff or defendant, in a civil or criminal case -- moves for the exclusion of a witness' prior felony conviction. While the factors to be weighed may differ depending upon the nature of the case or the party who may be prejudiced, the weighing process is applicable to all cases.
In this case neither of the convictions had any direct bearing on the credibility of the witness, and should have been excluded for that reason alone. (Ante, at p. 335.) The voluntary manslaughter conviction established the commission of a violent act, which may, at the most, have indicated a character trait for violence. Only this particular character trait -- and not the whole of Johnson's character -- was implicated. It cannot be inferred from the commission of a violent act that he was also disposed to falsify. "[A]s a matter of human nature, a bad general disposition does not necessarily or commonly involve a lack of veracity. ..." (3A Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn rev. ed. 1970) § 922, p. 727, original italics.) Chief Justice Burger has observed that "[a]cts of violence ... may result from a short temper, a combative nature, extreme provocation, or other causes, [and] generally have little or no direct bearing on honesty and veracity." (Gordon v. United States (D.C.Cir. 1967) 383 F.2d 936, 940; accord People v. Beagle, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 433; People v. Rist, supra, 16 Cal.3d at p. 222.) "The most heinous offenses in the Penal Code arsenal are those involving violence. Yet a propensity for violence, as suggested by a previous conviction of a violent act, does not reflect upon the only trait for which prior felony evidence is admissible: the credibility of a witness." (People v. Rollo, supra, 20 Cal.3d at p. 120, fn. 4.) Since the offense of voluntary manslaughter does not involve any element of fraud, deceit or dishonesty, evidence of the conviction should have been excluded.
The conviction for felon in possession of a concealable firearm should also have been excluded. There is nothing in the elements of this offense which involves a showing of dishonesty. The only elements that the prosecution must show in addition to the accused's status are his ownership or possession of an operable, concealable firearm (People v. Jackson (1968) 266 Cal. App. 2d 341, 348-349 [72 Cal.Rptr. 162]) and his knowledge of its presence and character. There is no requirement that the accused possessed the firearm for an illegal purpose (People v. Booker (1978) 77 Cal. App. 3d 223 [143 Cal.Rptr. 482]) or that he actually concealed it. It is only necessary to show that the weapon was "capable of being concealed upon the person." (Pen. Code, § 12021.) There is nothing inherently illegal in possessing or owning a concealable firearm. (Cf. People v. King (1978) 22 Cal. 3d 12 [148 Cal. Rptr. 409, 582 P.2d [23 Cal. 3d 341] 1000].) It is only the status of the owner which makes it a felony. Since this conviction had no direct bearing on the witness' truthfulness, under the rules of evidence, it should have been excluded.
 Despite the trial court's erroneous rulings on the prior convictions, Johnson did testify and was impeached. Therefore, this court must determine whether under the circumstances of this particular case the error was prejudicial. (People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal. 2d 818, 836 [299 P.2d 243]; compare People v. Rist, supra, 16 Cal.3d at p. 223 [where the witness to be impeached, the defendant, did not testify following the erroneous denial of his Beagle motion, the degree of prejudice could not be determined].) Several considerations compel the conclusion that it was.
Identity of the perpetrator was the central issue in appellant's trial. Johnson and Spencer, the victim, were the only witnesses to testify as to identity. fn. 7 Therefore, Johnson's credibility was critical. Recognizing this, the prosecutor exploited the erroneously admitted prior convictions during final arguments to discredit Johnson as a witness. Initially, the prosecutor declared: "I submit to you Mr. Johnson no more cares about getting on the stand and telling the truth than the man in the moon. If you thought for a second -- assume for a minute Mr. Woodard was or was not there, do you think that Mr. Johnson would get upon the stand and testify as to who committed the crime if he saw? Do you think he really would? Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Johnson is a unique human being." Later the prosecutor added: "But here he is, our great reliable witness Mr. Johnson, and his Honor will indicate how you can consider those felonies, voluntary manslaughter, ex-con in possession of a firearm bearing on his credibility." Even though there was no indication that Johnson had perjured himself, fn. 8 the jury may have been persuaded that Johnson was such an unsavory character due to his prior convictions that his testimony should be disregarded.
Prior to any decision to admit evidence of felony convictions to impeach the credibility of any witness, the trial courts must give careful consideration to whether or not the evidence will be used by the trier of fact only for the purpose which justifies its admission. "[T]he true purpose of a criminal trial, the ascertainment of the facts ...," (People v. Riser (1956) 47 Cal. 2d 566, 586 [305 P.2d 1]) is not advanced by the indiscriminate use of felony convictions which do not bear on the truthfulness of the witness' testimony. The danger inherent in the use of such prior felony convictions is that the jurors may disregard a witness' testimony because they disapprove of his felony convictions. The proper administration of justice and the search for truth cannot be advanced if jurors make decisions based on facts that are irrelevant to the issue before them.
In the present case, the record indicates that the trial court failed to exercise its discretion in admitting evidence of prior felony convictions. Since those prior convictions did not bear on the trait of truthfulness, this court has no choice but to remand the cause to the trial court for such proceedings as are consistent with this opinion. Accordingly, the judgment is reversed.
The majority of this court once again usurp the role of the Legislature.
In California all felony convictions are deemed probative on the issue of credibility. (Evid. Code, § 788.) fn. 1 In enacting section 788 the Legislature considered and rejected a proposal that would have changed California law by limiting impeachment to proof of a crime in which "an essential element" is "dishonesty or false statement." (Witkin, Cal. Evidence (2d ed. 1966) Introduction of Evidence at Trial, § 1243, p. 1146.) Therefore, by holding that "a prior felony conviction ... not involv[ing] the character trait of truthfulness ... must be excluded as irrelevant" to credibility (ante, p. 335), the majority clearly nullify legislative intent.
Evidence Code section 788 is essentially a recodification of the law as it existed under Code of Civil Procedure section 2051. (Legis. Committee com. to Evid. Code, § 788.) fn. 2 As the California Law Revision Commission pointed out, "under existing law any felony conviction may be used for impeachment purposes even though the crime involved has no bearing on the witness' honesty or veracity." (7 Cal. Law Revision Com. Rep. (1965) p. 143.) fn. 3 The Law Revision Commission originally proposed to change the law by limiting impeachment to a prior felony conviction in which "[a]n essential element of the crime is dishonesty or false statement." (Id., at pp. 141-143.) As originally introduced in the Assembly the legislation enacting the Evidence Code followed the recommendation of the Law Revision Commission in this respect. (Assem. Bill No. 333 (1965 Reg. Sess.) § 1.) fn. 4 However, as Mr. Witkin points out, "Strong opposition, [23 Cal. 3d 344] arguing the difficulties of classifying crimes in this manner and the disadvantages of the separate hearing interrupting the trial, led to abandonment of this reform. (See People v. Stewart [(1966) 240 Cal. App. 2d 1, 7, fns. 1 & 2 (50 Cal.Rptr. 26)].) Accordingly, Ev.C. 788 restates the rule of former C.C.P. 2051 ...." (Witkin, Cal. Evidence (2d ed. 1966) Introduction of Evidence at Trial, § 1243, p. 1146.) That is, it did until this court convened itself as a super-legislature.
What this court appears to have overlooked in Beagle is, of course, that the federal court of appeals in Gordon was not bound by the California Evidence Code in fashioning a "rule of thumb" for the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. If a court is free to consult "common human experience," rather than being constrained to give effect to a statute with an unambiguous history, there may be some appeal in the view that "convictions which rest on dishonest conduct relate to credibility whereas those of violent or assaultive crimes generally do not." fn. 5 However, as has been repeatedly stated herein, this is a view which our Legislature clearly rejected.
Having determined that James Johnson's prior felony convictions for voluntary manslaughter and for possession of a concealable firearm by an ex-felon -- like all prior felony convictions -- are probative on the issue of [23 Cal. 3d 345] his credibility, we proceed to consider the remaining factors in the Beagle balancing test. The priors being relatively recent, "remoteness" is no problem here; I do not understand the majority to claim that it is. The two factors identified in Beagle as bearing on prejudice are: (1) the possibility a defendant may not take the stand, thus depriving the jury of his side of the story, in order to avoid being impeached with prior convictions; and (2) the possibility a defendant impeached with a prior conviction similar to that for which he is on trial may be convicted by the jury on the unacceptable ground that if he did it before, he is more likely to have done it this time. (People v. Beagle, supra, 6 Cal.3d at p. 453.) However, as the Court of Appeal pointed out: "Those factors have no application to a witness who is not a defendant. A nondefendant witness may not decline to testify for fear of impeachment, and the proof of a prior conviction cannot operate to incline the jury's mind toward convicting him again when he is not under charge."
In conclusion, the trial court clearly acted properly in admitting evidence of Johnson's prior felony convictions for purposes of impeachment. There was no reason to exclude the priors. They were probative on the issue of Johnson's credibility, they were recent, and defendant would suffer no cognizable prejudice from their admission.
Accordingly, the judgment should be affirmed.
FN 1. There was no evidence that appellant had ever been known as Whitaker.
FN 2. Evidence Code section 788 provides in pertinent part: "For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, it may be shown by the examination of the witness or by the record of the judgment that he has been convicted of a felony. ..."
All references hereinafter to statutes are to the Evidence Code unless otherwise indicated.
FN 3. Section 352 provides: "The court in its discretion may exclude evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will (a) necessitate undue consumption of time or (b) create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury."
However, the dissent overlooks that the Legislature has indicated its approval of this court's holding in Beagle. In at least three of the four legislative sessions since Beagle was decided, amendments to section 788 have been proposed which were designed to overrule Beagle and its progeny. (Sen. Bill No. 845 (1972 Reg. Sess.) § 1; Assem. Bill No. 691 (1977-1978 Reg. Sess.) § 1.) Both houses of the Legislature have had an opportunity to act on such a bill, and, although each of the proposed amendments was considered at committee hearings, all of them failed to be enacted. (One died by operation of law in the Assembly after passage by the Senate; one was defeated by a Senate committee; and one was defeated by an Assembly committee.) (Final Cal. of Leg. Business (1972 Reg. Sess.) p. 266; Sen. Final Hist. (1973-1974 Reg. Sess.) p. 296; Assem. Semifinal Hist. (1977-1978 Reg. Sess.) p. 356.) Thus, the Legislature, after repeatedly scrutinizing Beagle et al., has indicated its approval of this court's line of decisions interpreting section 788.
Thus, the dissent errs when it asserts that this authority of the court has been limited in the particular instance of prior felony convictions and that the court has no power to determine if a prior felony conviction is probative of credibility. Had the Legislature intended to carve out an exception to the general rules, it would have said so forthrightly. Moreover, it would not have consistently rejected attempts to overrule this court's holding that section 788 was not intended to be an exception to the "general evidentiary provisions" of the Evidence Code.
FN 5. In People v. Antick, supra, 15 Cal.3d at page 99, this court noted that the absence of "a 'legally blameless life' ..., at most, enhance[s] only slightly the probative value of the evidence for impeachment purposes."
FN 7. Their testimony was also the only testimony that the jury requested be reread.
FN 9. Both Spencer and Johnson had known appellant before the robbery.
FN 1. Section 788 provides in pertinent part: "For the purpose of attacking the credibility of a witness, it may be shown by examination of the witness or by the record of the judgment that he has been convicted of a felony ...."
FN 3. The commission's statement assumes, of course, some felony convictions do not reflect on one's "honesty or veracity" -- a view, as will be seen, the Legislature ultimately rejected.
FN 4. Under this proposal Evidence Code section 788 would have provided in relevant part: "(a) Subject to subdivision (b), evidence of a witness' conviction of a felony is admissible for the purpose of attacking his credibility if the court, in proceedings held out of the presence and hearing of the jury, finds that: [¶] (1) An essential element of the crime is dishonesty or false statement ...."
FN 5. On the other hand, in this matter, as in most, human experience does not speak with one voice. It is just as consistent with human experience to assume that one who has disregarded society's most serious rules -- felonies -- will also disregard his obligation to tell the truth under oath. It is sufficient for our purposes that the Legislature has spoken on the issue.

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