Opinion ID: 1204963
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Reliability of jailhouse informant

Text: (24) Defendant contends the testimony of inmate Frederick Williams imposed a duty on the trial court to instruct the jury sua sponte to view with distrust the testimony of a jailhouse informant. We repeatedly have rejected the identical contention. (See People v. Pensinger, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 1250, fn. 13, and cases cited therein.) Defendant invites this court to reconsider the issue in light of United States v. Garcia (5th Cir.1976) 528 F.2d 580 [reversal where the conviction was based entirely on the informer's uncorroborated testimony]. Such reconsideration is unwarranted. Not only did our decision in People v. Hovey, supra, 44 Cal.3d at pages 565-566, implicitly reject Garcia, but Garcia also is factually distinguishable from the instant case. Moreover, at defendant's trial the court instructed the jury pursuant to CALJIC No. 2.23, regarding the credibility of a convicted felon. [34] The trial court thus adequately instructed the jury regarding William's testimony.