Opinion ID: 2509294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 28

Heading: Remaining Issues on Motion for New Trial

Text: Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a new trial. Defendant's motion advanced 12 claims. [38] Here, he confines his argument to four grounds: (1) the removal of Shafi-Nia and appointment of William Chais violated his right to effective assistance of counsel; (2) the trial court erroneously denied his venue motions; (3) the trial court erroneously declined to give certain defense penalty instructions regarding defendant's offenses as a factor in aggravation and on the burden of proof on the grounds that the instructions it gave were adequate; and (4) a new trial was justified by erroneous trial court rulings including (a) denial to the defense of access to Rauni Campbell, (b) the trial court's refusal to give an advance ruling on the scope of cross-examination of defendant at the sanity phase, (c) the exclusion of the Sean tape, and (d) the trial court's refusal to exclude the coroner's report as a sanction for the prosecution's alleged violation of discovery. Defendant has presented most of these claims on appeal, independent of his new trial claim, and we have found them to be without merit and rejected them. We also reject his claim that the trial court abused its discretion in denying his new trial motion on these grounds. Defendant's remaining claims are merely enumerated without further argument or citation to authority and for this reason we reject them. ( People v. Ashmus (1991) 54 Cal.3d 932, 985, fn. 15, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 112, 820 P.2d 214.)