Opinion ID: 1190325
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Instruction Regarding Informant's Testimony

Text: (1) Defendant contends the trial court erred by failing to instruct on its own motion that the testimony of a jailhouse informant should be viewed with suspicion and distrust, and that such testimony is inherently unreliable. We have repeatedly rejected similar contentions. ( People v. Gonzalez (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1179, 1209-1210 [275 Cal. Rptr. 729, 800 P.2d 1159], and cases cited therein.) Defendant was given full opportunity to explore in front of the jury any motive to cooperate or other bias on the part of all the witnesses, including the jailhouse informant. The standard instructions on judging the credibility of witnesses adequately guided the jury's assessment of the jailmate's testimony. ( Ibid. ) [2] Defendant also argues that the jury should not convict on the basis of uncorroborated testimony of informants. (Cf. § 1111 [accomplice testimony must be corroborated].) Neither we nor the Legislature has created such a requirement, but we need not resolve the question here, for the informant's testimony formed but a small part of the overall strong evidence against defendant. (See People v. Alcala (1984) 36 Cal.3d 604, 624, fn. 10 [205 Cal. Rptr. 775, 685 P.2d 1126].)