Opinion ID: 1215480
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of Dr. Blake's Testimony

Text: (13a) Relying on People v. Collins (1968) 68 Cal.2d 319, 328-329 [66 Cal. Rptr. 497, 438 P.2d 33, 36 A.L.R.3d 1176], defendant now asserts that the court erred in admitting Dr. Blake's testimony that results of the antigen test (ABO blood typing) showed that only 20 percent of the male population could have deposited the semen found in Hill's body, that PGM blood-type analysis showed only 40 percent of the male population could have deposited it, and that because the frequencies are independent of each other, only 8 percent of the population could have been the donor. Collins, supra, 68 Cal.2d 319, deals with the issue of the proper use of statistical probability figures in a criminal trial. Defense counsel did not, however, object at trial to the testimony on Collins grounds, nor did he argue that the evidence was otherwise inadmissible or that the tests performed by Blake were unreliable. Counsel did obtain a foundational hearing under Evidence Code section 402, but after the hearing, the only objection raised to Blake's testimony as to the semen tests was that he should have performed a different test. [22] The failure to object to the admission of the evidence on any other ground is fatal to defendant's current contentions. Evidence Code section 353 states: A verdict or finding shall not be set aside, nor shall the judgment or decision based thereon be reversed, by reason of the erroneous admission of evidence unless: [¶] (a) There appears of record an objection to or a motion to exclude or to strike the evidence that was timely made and so stated as to make clear the specific ground of the objection or motion; and [¶] (b) The court which passes upon the effect of the error or errors is of the opinion that the admitted evidence should have been excluded on the ground stated and that the error or errors complained of resulted in a miscarriage of justice. (See also Cal. Const., art. VI, § 13.) (14) The rationale for this rule is clear; a contrary rule would deprive the party offering the evidence of any opportunity to cure the defect at trial and would permit the nonobjecting party to gamble that the error will provide grounds for reversal of the matter. ( People v. Rogers (1978) 21 Cal.3d 542, 547-548 [146 Cal. Rptr. 732, 579 P.2d 1048].) (13b) We have previously held that in a death penalty case, we may review an admissibility issue, even though there was a technical flaw in the form of the objection made at trial. ( People v. Frank (1985) 38 Cal.3d 711 [214 Cal. Rptr. 801, 700 P.2d 415]; People v. Bob (1946) 29 Cal.2d 321 [175 P.2d 12].) In Bob, for example, the prosecutor had read a statement by the defendant's companion that defendant had struck the blows which resulted in death of the victim. The defendant's attorney objected at length to the evidence, calling it secondary evidence and requesting that, as the companion was available, he be produced as a witness. (29 Cal.2d at p. 324.) We held that counsel's failure to use the word hearsay in his objection was not fatal to our review of the question of admissibility, because the tenor of his remarks was plainly directed to that ground. ( Id., at p. 325.) In Frank, defendant's attorney similarly objected to evidence on the ground of overbreadth of the search warrant which produced the challenged evidence, although he did not state which specific clauses in the warrant were overbroad or clarify the precise theory of his claim. Although we recognized that the overbreadth objection could have been more specific, we nevertheless held that a technical insufficiency in the form of an objection may be disregarded on an appeal from a judgment imposing the death penalty. (38 Cal.3d at p. 730, fn. 3.) Unlike Frank, supra, 38 Cal.3d 711, and Bob, supra, 29 Cal.3d 321, in the present case no objection was raised on the same grounds as are now asserted on appeal. The purpose of the Evidence Code section 402 hearing does not appear on the record, but at the conclusion of that hearing, defendant's only stated basis for excluding Blake's evidence was that one of the possible tests on the sample had not been performed before the sample was consumed by other tests. The prosecutor therefore had no incentive to provide additional testimony to lay a foundation for Blake's testimony. Moreover, defendant's failure to object could have been part of a tactical strategy on his part to avoid a parade of experts who would attest to the validity of the scientific tests that were conducted. This is not a situation in which we can conclude that the substance of an objection was made, and undertake review even though the form of the objection was technically incorrect. Nor is this a case where a clear miscarriage of justice will result unless the admissibility of the semen evidence is reviewed. There is no evidence that in fact the tests conducted by Blake were unreliable. We have recognized the evidentiary value of semen analysis in People v. Nation (1980) 26 Cal.3d 169 [161 Cal. Rptr. 299, 604 P.2d 1051], in which we held that if a semen sample is recovered following an attempted or actual rape, the authorities must take reasonable measures to adequately preserve this evidence. We also noted in Nation that: While there are many possible analyses that may be performed on semen to identify the donor [class], and by corollary, to eliminate others from the class of possible donors, the two analyses deemed most commonly feasible are ABO blood typing and identification of the genetic marker phosphoglucomutase (PGM) [Citation.] ( Id., at p. 176.) [23] The ABO-typing test and PGM test were the two tests which were performed on the sample recovered from Hill's body. In addition, as noted, defendant's palm print and thumbprint, found at the scene of the crime, combined with his denial that he had ever been at the scene constituted persuasive evidence of guilt, especially when viewed in conjunction with the People's evidence undermining defendant's alibi defense. On these facts, we cannot find that a miscarriage of justice would occur unless we were to review defendant's evidentiary objections, made for the first time on appeal.