Opinion ID: 2515784
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence Impeaching Rojas

Text: The trial court conducted hearings on the admissibility of evidence of prior crimes committed by Rojas and evidence of other incidents bearing on his credibility. Richard identified for the court the prior crimes and other incidents bearing on Rojas's credibility that he intended to present for impeachment and to show a common plan or scheme under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b). Defendant and Spradlin joined in Richard's motion. The court and the parties discussed the issue generally at length on several occasions and then counsel for Richard specifically addressed each particular incident of other crimes committed by Rojas. In addressing the incidents individually, counsel for Richard did not consistently argue that the incidents were admissible for impeachment and to show a common plan or scheme, and the court likewise did not consistently address both possible grounds for admission of such evidence. In the end, the court ruled that two prior incidents involving Rojas were admissible on the issue of Rojas's credibility, that is, as evidence that Rojas had a morally lax character from which the jury could reasonably infer a readiness to lie. ( People v. Mickle (1991) 54 Cal.3d 140, 168, 284 Cal.Rptr. 511, 814 P.2d 290.)
The prosecution presented evidence that Rojas had been convicted of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245) in 1982 and armed robbery (§ 211) in 1988. Richard presented evidence of the facts underlying these convictions: Ronald Tate testified that Rojas approached him, asked him questions about a fight Tate had just witnessed, and then pulled out a knife and stabbed him multiple times. An investigator for Richard testified that he interviewed Ruben Arrechiga, Jr., an inmate witness. Arrechiga told the investigator that Rojas told him that as he was fleeing from a convenience store that he had just robbed, he saw two young girls from the neighborhood and shot at them because they could identify him as the perpetrator. Defendant now contends that by limiting the admissibility of Rojas's other crimes to the issue of Rojas's credibility, and by further limiting evidence detailing the facts of those other crimes, the trial court erred under state law and violated his federal constitutional rights to due process, confrontation and cross-examination, and presentation of a defense under the Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments, and to a reliable judgment under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Although counsel for Richard did not expressly argue that each incident of other crimes committed by Rojas was admissible as a common plan or scheme to intimidate a witness under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b), she did argue generally that the other crimes were admissible on this ground. Because defendant joined in Richard's motion when it was first identified for the trial court, we conclude that he has preserved the claim under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b). But, as discussed below, his claim is without merit. Defendant acknowledges that the facts underlying Rojas's two prior felony convictions were admitted for impeachment. But he contends that this evidence also should have been admitted to show Rojas's common plan or scheme to intimidate or eliminate witnesses, as relevant to the possibility Rojas killed Medina and Sanchez. In this vein, defendant also contends the court erred in precluding additional evidence about the Tate incident, namely that Rojas knew Tate because they had attended the same school years before the stabbing incident. Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (a), generally prohibits the admission of evidence of a person's character or a trait of his or her character when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion. Section 1101, subdivision (b), however, provides that evidence of a person's prior criminal act is admissible when relevant to prove some fact (such as motive, opportunity, intent, preparation, plan, knowledge ...) other than his or her disposition to commit such an act. To establish the existence of a common plan or scheme, the common features must indicate the existence of a plan rather than a series of similar spontaneous acts, but the plan thus revealed need not be distinctive or unusual. ( People v. Ewoldt (1994) 7 Cal.4th 380, 403, 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 646, 867 P.2d 757.) Moreover, to be admissible, such evidence `must not contravene other policies limiting admission, such as those contained in Evidence Code section 352.' ( People v. Lewis (2001) 25 Cal.4th 610, 637, 106 Cal.Rptr.2d 629, 22 P.3d 392.) Under Evidence Code section 352, the probative value of the proffered evidence must not be substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission would create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. (See People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 404, 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 646, 867 P.2d 757; Evid.Code, § 352.) The evidence of the 1982 Tate incident was weak on the issue of whether Rojas had a plan to intimidate a witness. There was no evidence that Rojas was involved in any way in the fight that Tate had witnessed. Absent such evidence, there was no motive for Rojas to stab Tate. Accordingly, the court did not err in limiting the admission of evidence of the Tate incident to impeach Rojas. Admittedly, the evidence of the 1988 armed robbery was stronger than the evidence of the Tate incident on the issue of Rojas's purported plan to intimidate witnesses because, arguably, Rojas shot at the girls while fleeing from the scene of the robbery because they could have identified him as the perpetrator of the robbery. But evidence of this shooting incident was weak in substance, considering that there was no offer of proof that Rojas was convicted of shooting at the girls, and considering that the testimony that Rojas shot at the girls was suspect because it was given by a convicted felon. Accordingly, the court did not err in limiting the admission of evidence of the armed robbery to impeach Rojas.
Richard also proffered evidence that Rojas ordered the killings of Armando and Mario Vellez in 1982, that he stabbed Jovito Rodriguez, also in 1982, that he was an enforcer or shot-caller for a Mexican prison gang, and that he has an antisocial personality disorder and is a pathological liar. Defendant joined in Richard's initial offer of proof to the trial court. The court excluded evidence of the Vellez and Rodriguez incidents under Evidence Code section 352, excluded evidence that Rojas was an enforcer as irrelevant, and excluded expert testimony evidence that he is a pathological liar as invading the province of the jury (see Evid.Code, § 801), pending further foundational hearing if necessary. Defendant now contends that the trial court should have admitted this evidence to impeach Rojas further. He also contends that, with the exception of the evidence of antisocial personality disorder, all of this evidence should have been admitted to show a common plan or scheme to eliminate those who saw him commit crimes or order others to do so. As defendant himself notes, Rojas was impeached heavily at trial. In addition to evidence that he stabbed Ronald Tate, which resulted in his conviction for assault with a deadly weapon in 1982, and evidence that he shot at two girls while fleeing from an armed robbery for which he was convicted in 1988, there was evidence that Rojas raped Spring only hours before Medina and Sanchez were killed. He acknowledged lying to police after his arrest. A correctional sergeant with the California Department of Corrections who knew Rojas opined that he was an untruthful person. Rojas's credibility as a witness thus was highly questionable. Moreover, the relevance of Rojas's other crimes was tenuous at best and would have necessitated undue consumption of time and created a substantial danger of confusing the issues. The court did not abuse its discretion in excluding the additional evidence of Rojas's other crimes. The evidence that Rojas was a pathological liar was properly excluded, as the jury was capable of determining the witness's credibility without expert opinion. The defense could have requested a further hearing, in which it could have shown the need to present expert testimony about the antisocial personality disorder, but did not do so. Defendant contends that, even if the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding each additional instance of other crimes by Rojas, the cumulative impact of the exclusion of such evidence requires reversal. We disagree. As noted, Rojas's credibility was thoroughly impeached. Further, his involvement in the murders was extensively explored: Juarez, Ramirez, and Richard Avila testified that Rojas was concerned that Medina and Sanchez could identify their attackers; Juarez and Ramirez further testified that Rojas expressed the desire to get rid of the two girls; and Richard testified that Rojas participated in placing the girls in the car that eventually took them to the canal bank where they were killed.