Opinion ID: 844251
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedural background and preservation of issues

Text: Pretrial, the defense moved to exclude any and all evidence of gang membership and activities of the defendant as irrelevant and unduly prejudicial under Evidence Code section 352, and asked the trial court to read the preliminary hearing transcript in anticipation of the hearing on the motion. The prosecutor made an offer of proof, based solely on the preliminary hearing testimony of jailhouse informant Harold Black, that defendant was a member of the Crips street gang and killed Martin, purportedly a member of the Bloods gang, in retaliation for a Blood having killed a purported fellow Crip (Scotty Ware) more than a year before the Martin murder. Denying the defense motion, the trial court ruled that the evidence was relevant to the Martin murder and that its admission would not deny defendant due process. At trial, the prosecution presented evidence in support of its theory that Martin's murder was gang motivated through the testimony of Kerry Scott, Harold Black, and Sergeant Palmer. Defendant objected to Scott's testimony on grounds of relevance, lack of foundation, hearsay, and undue prejudice. In overruling defendant's objections, the trial court indicated generally it would permit this type of evidence. Defendant thereafter did not object on these grounds to similar evidence conveyed through Black's and Palmer's testimony. Defendant acknowledges that he did not object to Black's testimony but asserts any objections would have been futile and would only have reinforced the incompetent evidence in the minds of the jurors. We have reviewed the record and agree that any objections to Black's testimony based on grounds similar to those upon which he objected to Scott's testimony would have been equally unsuccessful. Defendant, therefore, is excused from having failed to object to the admission of Black's testimony regarding defendant's purported gang membership and gang activities in Banning. (See, e.g., People v. Hill (1998) 17 Cal.4th 800, 821 [72 Cal.Rptr.2d 656, 952 P.2d 673] [a defendant is excused from making a timely objection to asserted prosecutorial misconduct or a request for admonition if either would be futile]; People v. Roberto V. (2001) 93 Cal.App.4th 1350, 1365 & fn. 8 [113 Cal.Rptr.2d 804] [where counsel's hearsay objection was overruled as to one statement, same objection to similar statements was unnecessary and, hence, the failure to object to the latter statement did not waive the asserted error for appeal].)