Opinion ID: 2508322
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Richard Johnson's Out-of-court Statements

Text: Defendant contends the trial court erroneously admitted one portion of Richard Johnson's statement to Olin Davis and certain portions of his statement to Sergeant Voznik. We address each of these contentions in turn.
Defendant contends the trial court's admission of Johnson's statement to Davis that defendant killed Thompson and Robinson violated his right to confront witnesses against him as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the federal Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution. On direct examination by the prosecution, Davis testified that Johnson came to his house on Tuesday, April 28, 1987, after defendant had visited. On cross-examination, defense counsel asked, And when you talked to [Johnson], he told you that he was there [when Thompson and Robinson were killed]? The prosecutor objected on the ground of hearsay, and the trial court excused the jury and heard the parties' arguments regarding the proffered testimony. Defendant's offer of proof was that Davis would testify Johnson told him he was present when Thompson and Robinson were killed and warned him not to tell anybody about it. Defense counsel acknowledged such testimony was hearsay, but sought to introduce it as a declaration against penal interest under Evidence Code section 1230. The parties stipulated Johnson was an unavailable witness, and defense counsel argued the proffered evidence was relevant to show that Johnson was present at the scene of the murders, had the opportunity to commit the murders, and ultimately committed the murders. The prosecutor responded that the statement defense counsel was trying to introduce was completely out of context and that, if the court admitted the statement, he would ask the court to admit Johnson's entire statement under Evidence Code section 356, because to do otherwise would be extremely misleading. The court asked the parties whether Johnson's entire statement to Davis would be admissible under Evidence Code section 356 if it ruled that defense counsel's question called for a proper declaration against penal interest. Defense counsel answered yes and noted that if the full statement were admitted, the defense could bring in other hearsay statements to show prior consistent or inconsistent statements, acknowledging that doing so would be a tactical decision that the defense would have to live with. The trial court concluded that, based on defendant's offer of proof, Johnson's statement to Davis about his presence at the scene of the murders was a declaration against penal interest, and that it was prepared to rule such evidence relevant, subject to the provisions of Evidence Code section 356 and other provisions regarding prior inconsistent and consistent statements without ruling on what else comes in. The court added that if the defense chose not to cross-examine Davis on the contents of the conversation, the issue could nevertheless become relevant in the defense case, subject to cross-examination and rebuttal evidence as to his prior consistent or inconsistent statements. Based on the court's ruling, the prosecutor withdrew his original hearsay objection. The following then occurred during cross-examination of Davis by the defense: Q. After the conversation, did Rick [Johnson] tell you not to tell anybody about this particular conversation he was having with you? A. Yes. Q. And the conversation related to the homicides of Betty Thompson and her old man; is that correct? A. Yes. Q. And what Rick told you ... was that he was present at the time of these particular murders, correct? A. Yes. Q. And then Rick proceeded to lay the murder on [defendant]; is that correct? THE COURT: Do you understand the question? [DAVIS]: No. THE COURT: Could you translate your slang and reframe your question. [DEFENSE COUNSEL]: The slang is, Rick blamed [defendant] for the murder; isn't that correct? [DAVIS]: Your Honor, can I answer the question  THE COURT: Yes. [DAVIS]:  and give  say something else? THE COURT: Well, yes, but start with  the question is, in this conversation you had with Rick, did he blame [defendant] for the murders, that's the question. [DAVIS]: Well, he said [defendant] did it, yes. THE COURT: What is it you wanted to explain? [DAVIS]: But what I want to explain is that when he said that [defendant] did it, I mean he just told me that he was there, [defendant] did it, and keep everything to myself, okay, that was it. But [defendant] had already told me he did it hisself [ sic ]. Defendant contends the trial court erroneously admitted Johnson's hearsay statements because they were not proper declarations against penal interest excepted from the hearsay rule under Evidence Code section 1230, and because they violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him. We need not decide whether the trial court erred in admitting Johnson's hearsay statements, for defendant invited any error. (See People v. Riel (2000) 22 Cal.4th 1153, 1214, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 998 P.2d 969; People v. Barton (1995) 12 Cal.4th 186, 198, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 569, 906 P.2d 531.) Defense counsel expressly acknowledged that eliciting testimony on the portion of Johnson's statement admitting he was at the scene of the crime was a tactical decision on their part, as they knew that admission of such evidence likely would mean that the portion of Johnson's statement attributing the murders to defendant would also be admitted to place the statement in context of the entire conversation between Johnson and Davis under Evidence Code section 356. [3] Defense counsel wanted the jury to learn that Johnson was present at the scene of the crime so that they could later argue during closing argument that Johnson was the shooter.
Sergeant Voznik, a defense witness who had also testified for the prosecution, testified that on May 12, 1987, Johnson came to the police station with his attorney. Voznik told them that Johnson would be treated as a suspect and that, if Johnson wished to give a statement, the police would thereafter make a determination as to Johnson's involvement in the murders. Johnson asked to speak privately with Jesse Slaughter, who had come to the police station shortly after Johnson. Sergeant Voznik allowed Johnson, his attorney, and Slaughter to speak privately. Johnson then declined to give a statement to the police, and was arrested on an outstanding warrant. The next morning, Johnson telephoned Sergeant Voznik from jail and said he had changed his mind and wanted to make a statement. Voznik contacted Johnson's attorney, and the three met that afternoon at the police station. During the ensuing interview, Johnson told Voznik that, on April 27, defendant negotiated with Thompson about buying crack cocaine and gave her money for it. Johnson also said that he was present when Thompson and Robinson were killed and that defendant had killed them. On cross-examination by the prosecution, Sergeant Voznik testified that his interview with Johnson was tape-recorded. The prosecutor marked for identification a 28-page transcript of Johnson's interview and referred to the transcript in questioning Voznik about the details of the interview. Johnson told Voznik that defendant shot Thompson and Robinson about 10:00 p.m. on April 27, 1987, in an alley outside the apartment of Lisa McKaufman. Defendant snatche[d] Robinson with his left hand, pulled a gun from the front of his pants with his right hand, placed the gun to Robinson's neck and fired one shot. Robinson just drop[ped], and Thompson lay on the ground in a fetal position screaming and hollering. Defendant then straddled Thompson and shot her two to three times on the side of her head. Defendant did not object to any of this testimony. When the prosecutor asked Sergeant Voznik where defendant went after shooting Thompson, defense counsel objected to the testimony as being no longer within the realm of [Evidence Code section] 356. The trial court overruled the objection. Voznik then testified that Johnson said that defendant leaped past him after shooting Thompson. Without objection from the defense, Voznik also stated that defendant's gun was a rust-colored revolver with a three-inch barrel. The court sustained several of defendant's objections to identified portions of the Johnson interview as outside the scope of Evidence Code section 356 or as cumulative. Over defendant's objection that the testimony was cumulative, Sergeant Voznik further testified that during the interview Johnson said that when defendant shot Robinson the gun was touching Robinson's neck, and when defendant shot Thompson the gun was two or three feet from Thompson's head. Defendant contends that Johnson's statement to Sergeant Voznik providing details about the Thompson/Robinson murders, which the prosecutor elicited during cross-examination, was inadmissible hearsay. Because he did not object at trial on this ground, he has not preserved the issue for review. (See People v. Hines (1997) 15 Cal.4th 997, 1035, 64 Cal.Rptr.2d 594, 938 P.2d 388.) Even if the issue was properly before us, the contention lacks merit, as discussed below. Evidence Code section 356 permits introduction of statements `on the same subject' or which are necessary for the understanding of the statements already introduced. [Citation.] ( People v. Maury (2003) 30 Cal.4th 342, 419-420, 133 Cal.Rptr.2d 561, 68 P.3d 1.) Accordingly, once defendant had introduced a portion of Johnson's interview with Sergeant Voznik into evidence, the prosecution was entitled to introduce the remainder of Johnson's interview to place in context the isolated statements of Johnson related by Voznik on direct examination by the defense. (See People v. Zapien (1993) 4 Cal.4th 929, 959, 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 122, 846 P.2d 704.) The trial court's admission of Johnson's statements was therefore proper under California statutory law. Defendant also contends that by admitting the statement the trial court violated his right to confront and cross-examine witnesses against him, under the Sixth Amendment to the federal Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution. Even if he has not forfeited this claim by his failure to raise it at trial, the claim lacks merit. Recently, the United States Supreme Court stated that when testimonial hearsay evidence, which includes [s]tatements taken by police officers in the course of interrogations ( Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36, 52, 124 S.Ct. 1354, 1364, 158 L.Ed.2d 177), is at issue, the Sixth Amendment demands ... unavailability [of the declarant] and a prior opportunity for cross-examination ( id. at p. 68, 124 S.Ct. at p. 1374). But the high court has not said whether Crawford applies to cases that, like this one, were tried before it was decided. Assuming for the sake of argument that under Crawford, admission of Johnson's statements to Voznik violated the Sixth Amendment, admission of the statements would require reversal unless we found beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury verdict would have been the same absent any error. ( Neder v. United States (1999) 527 U.S. 1, 7-10, 119 S.Ct. 1827, 144 L.Ed.2d 35; see also People v. Bolden (2002) 29 Cal.4th 515, 560, 127 Cal.Rptr.2d 802, 58 P.3d 931.) Under that standard, any error in admitting Johnson's statements was harmless. The important factual issue at trial was identity, not the manner in which the victims were killed. On this point, defendant himself elicited from Sergeant Voznik the statement by Johnson identifying defendant as the shooter, which was consistent with defendant's admission of guilt to Davis. The details of the murders provided by Davis, as relayed to him by defendant, were largely identical to the details provided by Johnson, but for the order in which the victims were killed. The locations and the analysis of the victims' wounds corroborated evidence that they were killed at very close range. Under these circumstances, we are satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt the jury's verdict would have been the same absent the admission of evidence elicited by the prosecution on cross-examination of Voznik about the details of Johnson's statement to him.