Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Defense Expert on Prison Gangs

Text: At trial, the defense proposed to call Dr. Richard Korn, a social psychologist and criminologist, as an expert witness on prison gangs in general and the AB in particular. Dr. Korn testified out of the jury's presence as an offer of proof. He said the AB was the least organized of the prison gangs, that its members would not take orders and were not parliamentary, and that it had no acknowledged leaders. He said that he had reviewed the testimony of Thompson and Smith about the AB's structure and procedures and that he agreed with some parts of that testimony and disagreed with other parts. He agreed that in 1982 an attempt was made to change a relatively unstructured, inefficient organization into a criminal organization modeled on the Mafia, but he did not believe that the attempt succeeded to the extent that a vote by inmates in institutions far removed from each other was taken and tallied within a matter of weeks to determine who would be on the AB's leadership council. His opinion about the AB's structure, or lack of it, was based on interviews with self-identified AB members and former members. He would not reveal the names of these persons without their permission, and he had not obtained that permission. The court declined to admit the testimony. It explained that Dr. Korn's opinions were not based on matters perceived or personally known to him, but that they were based instead largely on conversations with self-identified AB members whose identities Dr. Korn was unwilling to disclose, thereby substantially impairing the prosecution's ability to effectively cross-examine him. The court also questioned whether there was any degree of scientific reliability to the testimony. (40) Defendant contends that the court erred in excluding this expert testimony and that the error deprived him of his Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendment rights to present a defense and to a fair trial in accordance with due process of law. The ruling was not error. Courts have given parties wide latitude in the cross-examination of experts to test their credibility. ( People v. Coleman, supra, 38 Cal.3d 69, 92.) If a witness frustrates cross-examination by declining to answer some or all of the questions, the court may strike all or part of the witness's testimony. ( People v. Daggett (1990) 225 Cal. App.3d 751, 760 [275 Cal. Rptr. 287].) From this rule it follows logically that if, as here, the court determines in advance that the witness will refuse to answer such questions, the court may decline to admit the testimony in the first instance. Accordingly, the trial court did not exceed its discretion when it concluded that Dr. Korn's unwillingness to reveal the names of the persons whose statements formed the basis of the opinions he proposed to give on direct examination would impair effective cross-examination to such an extent that the testimony should not be admitted.