Opinion ID: 424761
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Codefendant's Statement

Text: 56 Daly asserts that the Government's improper use of a non-testifying codefendant's statement deprived him of a fair trial in violation of Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123, 88 S.Ct. 1620, 20 L.Ed.2d 476 (1968). A government witness testified that codefendant Diaz had stated that he had obtained a false Nebraska title from someone in Redondo Beach, California. Other testimony indicated that Daly lived in Redondo Beach and stored stolen vehicles at his residence. Although the specific count against Daly toward which this testimony was directed was later dismissed, Daly claims the testimony prejudiced the jury's deliberations on the other counts. 57 Bruton prohibits admission of the powerfully incriminating extrajudicial statements of a codefendant. Id. at 135, 88 S.Ct. at 1627. Although Diaz's statement permitted an inference of Daly's involvement, we doubt that it was powerfully incriminating. Assuming, however, that its admission did violate Daly's sixth amendment rights, that error does not require automatic reversal. Harrington v. California, 395 U.S. 250, 254, 89 S.Ct. 1726, 1728, 23 L.Ed.2d 284 (1969); United States v. Lutz, 621 F.2d 940, 947 (9th Cir.1980), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1093, 101 S.Ct. 890, 66 L.Ed.2d 822 (1981). Considering the amount of properly admitted evidence against Daly and the relative insignificance of this testimony in reference to the counts on which Daly was convicted, we find that the error, if any, was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt and thus does not require reversal.