Opinion ID: 2626390
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Detective Coffey's Interview Techniques

Text: The prosecution called Detective Coffey to describe the murder investigation, including defendant's statements at the police station. When first examined on the latter topic, Coffey mentioned specific interview techniques used in this case. They included speaking in a stern voice and disclosing incriminating evidence whenever it seemed defendant was not being truthful. A bench conference then occurred in which the court and counsel discussed the logistics of presenting the recorded interview to the jurya recording that was three and one-half hours long. During this conference, the court authorized the prosecution to elicit additional testimony concerning Coffey's reasons for asking defendant certain questions. The court also overruled defense counsel's objection that the interview itself provided the best evidence, and that the proffered testimony was unnecessary. Hence, when describing defendant's statements about his conduct on January 19, 1990, Detective Coffey repeatedly testified that defendant changed his story when confronted with conflicting evidence. Coffey twice said that this process exposed apparent lies on defendant's part. Defense counsel objected throughout this exchange solely on grounds the prosecution asked Coffey leading and argumentative questions, and assumed facts not in evidence. Defendant now contends the trial court allowed Detective Coffey to attack defendant's veracity in violation of state law rules restricting both expert and lay opinion testimony on the issue. (See Evid. Code, §§ 800, 801; People v. Melton (1988) 44 Cal.3d 713, 744, 244 Cal.Rptr. 867, 750 P.2d 741; People v. Sergill (1982) 138 Cal. App.3d 34, 38-40, 187 Cal.Rptr. 497; but see People v. Padilla (1995) 11 Cal.4th 891, 946-947, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 426, 906 P.2d 388 [suggesting that Cal. Const. art. I, § 28, subd. (d), known as Prop. 8's Truth-in-Evidence provision, repealed such rules for crimes committed after its June 1982 effective date].) The ruling supposedly usurped the jury function (thereby violating the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments), and allowed the prosecutor to exploit defendant's lies in closing argument. We reject these claims. First, as noted by the Attorney General, defendant did not seek to exclude the evidence below on any theory raised here. As in prior cases involving a failure to object on similar grounds, the claims have been forfeited on appeal. ( People v. Anderson (1990) 52 Cal.3d 453, 478, 276 Cal.Rptr. 356, 801 P.2d 1107.) Second, defendant misreads the record. Detective Coffey highlighted the twists and turns in a long interrogation. Nothing in this testimony or the trial court's rulings indicated that Coffey was offering an opinion for direct jury consideration on the issue of defendant's credibility. No reasonable juror would have viewed the evidence this way. Moreover, Coffey's testimony mirrored the interview heard by the jury, including defendant's own admissions about lying and changing his account. Just as we find no flaw in the questions the court allowed the prosecutor to ask, we find nothing harmful in the answers Coffey gave.