Opinion ID: 1453508
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Alleged Vindictive, Discriminatory and Capricious Prosecution

Text: On September 22, 1981, three days after the shooting, and before defendant's arrest, a complaint was filed and a warrant for defendant's arrest was obtained. The complaint charged first degree murder but no special circumstance. Defendant was arrested in Maryland on September 28. Twelve days later, on October 10, 1981, an amended complaint was filed charging the lying-in-wait special circumstance. (27) Defendant claims the amendment was unlawful because it was discriminatory, capricious, and a vindictive retaliation for defendant's assertion of the right to counsel, his temporary refusal to waive extradition, and his eventual refusal to talk to the police. The Attorney General argues that the issue is not properly before us because defendant neither moved to dismiss the amended complaint nor otherwise objected on this basis. We agree. [B]ecause a claim of discriminatory prosecution generally rests upon evidence completely extraneous to the specific facts of the charged offense, we believe the issue should not be resolved upon evidence submitted at trial, but instead should be raised ... through a pretrial motion to dismiss. ( Murgia v. Municipal Court (1975) 15 Cal.3d 286, 293-294, fn. 4 [124 Cal. Rptr. 204, 540 P.2d 44].) This rationale applies to claims of vindictive prosecution. (See also People v. Toro (1989) 47 Cal.3d 966, 976 [254 Cal. Rptr. 811, 766 P.2d 577] [defendant must object to amendment of information at trial to preserve a lack-of-notice objection]; People v. Sperl (1976) 54 Cal. App.3d 640, 656-657 [126 Cal. Rptr. 907].) Defendant argues he repeatedly objected to the lying-in-wait charge. True, but not on this basis. He also claims he raised the issue during jury selection on February 11, 1983. At that time, defendant requested a proportionality hearing under the then recent decision of Harris v. Pulley (9th Cir.1982) 692 F.2d 1189, 1196, reversed sub nomine Pulley v. Harris (1984) 465 U.S. 37 [79 L.Ed.2d 29, 104 S.Ct. 871]. (In Pulley v. Harris, supra , the United States Supreme Court ultimately reversed the Ninth Circuit's decision, and held that proportionality review of capital cases is not necessary.) Portions of the defense argument would have been relevant to a claim of vindictive prosecution had that claim been made. The claim, however, was never actually made. The instant contention is not properly before us. The contention is also meritless. Defendant claims the district attorney amended the complaint in retaliation for his exercise of constitutional rights. (See generally In re Bower (1985) 38 Cal.3d 865 [215 Cal. Rptr. 267 [700 P.2d 1269]; Twiggs v. Superior Court (1983) 34 Cal.3d 360 [194 Cal. Rptr. 152, 667 P.2d 1165].) He relies largely on media reports that the sheriff and to a lesser extent a deputy district attorney criticized the early involvement of the public defender in the case. We start our analysis by observing that generally a complaint or information may be amended even as late as trial. (§ 1009; People v. Witt (1975) 53 Cal. App.3d 154, 165 [125 Cal. Rptr. 653].) Here, the amendment was filed within two weeks of defendant's arrest, even before the preliminary hearing, and well over a year before trial. In In re Bower, supra, 38 Cal.3d at pages 874-877, and Twiggs v. Superior Court, supra, 34 Cal.3d at pages 369-374, we found a presumption of vindictiveness when charges were increased after the assertion of constitutional rights and after jeopardy had attached. As stated in Bower, supra : The timing of the prosecutor's action is important because `[a] prosecutor should remain free before trial to exercise the broad discretion entrusted to him to determine the extent of the societal interest in prosecution. An initial decision should not freeze future conduct. [Fn. omitted.] As we made clear in Bordenkircher [v. Hayes (1978) 434 U.S. 357 (54 L.Ed.2d 604, 98 S.Ct. 663)], the initial charges filed by a prosecutor may not reflect the extent to which an individual is legitimately subject to prosecution.' ([ United States v. Goodwin (1982) 457 U.S. 368, 382 (73 L.Ed.2d 74, 86, 102 S.Ct. 2485)].) The court [in United States v. Goodwin ] noted that an important factor in assessing the timing element is the attachment of jeopardy. At the pretrial stage `the prosecutor's assessment of the proper extent of prosecution may not have fully crystallized. In contrast, once a trial begins  and certainly by the time a conviction has been obtained  it is much more likely that the State has discovered and assessed all of the information against an accused and has made a determination, on the basis of that information, of the extent to which he should be prosecuted.' ([457 U.S. 368, 381, (73 L.Ed.2d 74, 85), italics added in Bower ].) ( In re Bower, supra, 38 Cal.3d at pp. 875-876, quoting United States v. Goodwin (1982) 457 U.S. 368 [73 L.Ed.2d 74, 102 S.Ct. 2485].) The initial complaint of this case was filed within three days of the crime, even before defendant was arrested. It is natural, not suspicious, that at that point the prosecution had not discovered and assessed all of the information against defendant. ( In re Bower, supra, 38 Cal.3d at p. 875.) It is not surprising the prosecution did not fully assess a possible lying-in-wait special circumstance while defendant was still at large and the most pressing need was to obtain an arrest warrant. Deciding whether to charge a special circumstance is obviously a major decision, one not to be rushed. The judicial process serves to weed out inflated charges. As discussed ante, in part II. B. 1., the lying-in-wait special circumstance was fully warranted by the evidence. It was charged within days of defendant's arrest, and thereafter consistently and effectively prosecuted. There is no hint, much less an affirmative showing, of vindictive prosecution. Defendant also claims the prosecution was discriminatory and capricious. He asserts, without evidentiary support, that others, similarly situated, were not prosecuted [in Orange County] for lying in wait.... Even if the record supported the claim that the Orange County District Attorney does not prosecute all lying-in-wait cases (it does not), this would not state a claim of discriminatory prosecution. In People v. Keenan (1988) 46 Cal.3d 478 [250 Cal. Rptr. 550, 758 P.2d 1081], we upheld a refusal to grant the defendant discovery about the San Francisco District Attorney's capital charging policies and practices to aid in a claim of arbitrary charging. [P]rosecutorial discretion to select those eligible cases in which the death penalty will actually be sought does not in and of itself evidence an arbitrary and capricious capital punishment system or offend principles of equal protection, due process, or cruel and/or unusual punishment. [Citations.] [¶] Many circumstances may affect the litigation of a case chargeable under the death penalty law. These include factual nuances, strength of evidence, and, in particular, the broad discretion to show leniency. Hence, one sentenced to death under a properly channeled death penalty scheme cannot prove a constitutional violation by showing that other persons whose crimes were superficially similar did not receive the death penalty. [Citations.] The same reasoning applies to the prosecutor's decisions to pursue or withhold capital charges at the outset. ( Id. at pp. 505-506.) The district attorney prosecuted this case vigorously, as well he might. Vigorous prosecution is not capricious prosecution. This crime, involving the effective execution of one 12-year-old girl and the attempted execution of another, is particularly aggravated. It cannot be compared to other superficially similar lying-in-wait cases. (See People v. Keenan, supra, 46 Cal.3d at p. 506.) There was no impropriety in prosecuting this as a capital case.