Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reference to 1971 Montana Attempted Robbery

Text: Before the guilt trial began, the trial court had ruled that defendant's 1971 Montana attempted robbery conviction was constitutionally infirm. The infirmity of the conviction did not preclude the prosecution from introducing evidence of the offense itself at the penalty phase as a circumstance in aggravation (§ 190.3, factor (b)), but the defense later moved to preclude such use on the ground it had not received sufficient notice (§ 190.3, 4th par.). In a written ruling, the trial court said it seemed very unlikely that the defense had been prejudiced by the lack of notice, but that [t]o assure avoidance of error this shall be saved for rebuttal. The first reference to the Montana attempted robbery occurred during the prosecution's cross-examination of defense witness Rogers Larry, a San Quentin correctional officer who testified that defendant had been a respectful and well-behaved prisoner. He testified that he knew defendant at San Quentin for about three years at some time between 1971 and 1975. On cross-examination, the prosecutor asked a series of questions challenging the testimony that defendant was at San Quentin during this time. He asked whether the witness would be surprised to learn that defendant was released on parole in March 1971 and did not return to San Quentin until 1975. The witness continued to maintain that defendant had been at San Quentin for three years between 1971 and 1975. The prosecutor then asked the witness if he could explain how defendant could have been arrested in Montana in April 1971 with a gun, high-speed chase and everything. The witness answered no, and defense counsel requested permission to approach the bench. At the bench, the court offered to admonish the jury to disregard the reference to defendant's arrest after a high-speed chase. Defense counsel moved for mistrial, and the court denied the motion. The prosecutor argued that the question was proper because evidence of the incident would be presented on rebuttal, in accordance with the court's earlier ruling. The trial court indicated that although evidence of the arrest might well be admissible in rebuttal, it should not be mentioned before that time. Defense counsel said he would consider the court's offer to admonish the jury, but he never accepted the offer. Later, during cross-examination of defendant, the court ruled that the prosecutor could ask defendant about the 1971 Montana attempted robbery. Defendant then admitted that he had used a pistol during an attempt to rob a man at a grocery store, and that he had been arrested after a four- or five-mile pursuit by officers of the Montana Highway Patrol. (114) Defendant contends that the prosecutor's reference to the Montana arrest in the question to Officer Larry was misconduct because the relevance of the matter was clearly outweighed by the risk of prejudice and because the reference clearly violated the court's earlier ruling. The question was not a violation of the court's ruling, which only affected admissibility of evidence of the criminal conduct during the prosecution's penalty phase case-in-chief. The ruling did not bar reference to the incident during otherwise proper cross-examination of defense witnesses, as shown by the court's later ruling during cross-examination of defendant. In any event, defendant could not have been prejudiced by the reference in the question to Officer Larry because defendant later testified fully to the events in question.