Opinion ID: 2637824
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidentiary Rulings on Adjustment Potential

Text: Before his testimony at the penalty phase, the trial court limited the testimony of defense corrections expert James Esten. Defendant sought to have Esten detail the conditions of confinement for an inmate sentenced to a life term in a level 4 maximum security prison. Defendant made an offer of proof in which Esten would describe the specific level 4 prison conditions designed to minimize the risks of escape and of an inmate assaulting staff members or other inmates. As further support, defendant offered exhibits describing some of the procedures and safety measures employed by the Department of Corrections as well as pictures of inmate cells, the secured toilet, sink, and bunk fixtures inside the inmate cell, the secured tables and seating at an inmate dining hall, and the outdoor security fencing at a level 4 institution. Defendant argued this evidence was relevant to whether defendant had the potential to successfully adjust to life in prison without the possibility of parole and would rebut any claim of future dangerousness. Citing this court's prior precedents, the prosecutor argued that the details of future conditions of confinement were not relevant. Additionally, he noted that the prosecution had not offered evidence of defendant's future dangerousness. The trial court agreed and ruled the exhibits inadmissible. The court made clear that Esten could not testify as to details of the prison system, but also ruled that Esten could offer general descriptions of prison life as well as his opinions on defendant's future dangerousness and whether prison life was the kind of structured environment that defendant needed. The court further stated: What I'm not going to allow him to do is to testify as to, as in the photographs in your exhibit, the floors are painted this way, the guards look this way, the tables are made out of this, the toilets are made out of that. The court also made clear that it would allow Esten to describe the level 4 classification and its subdividing classifications. Defendant claims this ruling violated state law and his rights to due process and a reliable penalty determination under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. We disagree. (16) As defendant acknowledges, we have repeatedly held that evidence concerning conditions of confinement for a person serving a sentence of life without possibility of parole is not relevant to the penalty determination because it has no bearing on the defendant's character, culpability, or the circumstances of the offense under either the federal Constitution or section 190.3, factor (k). ( People v. Jones (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1229, 1261 [131 Cal.Rptr.2d 468, 64 P.3d 762], citing People v. Quartermain (1997) 16 Cal.4th 600, 632 [66 Cal.Rptr.2d 609, 941 P.2d 788]; People v. Daniels (1991) 52 Cal.3d 815, 876-878 [277 Cal.Rptr. 122, 802 P.2d 906]; People v. Thompson (1988) 45 Cal.3d 86, 138-139 [246 Cal.Rptr. 245, 753 P.2d 37].) (17) More importantly, [d]escribing future conditions of confinement for a person serving life without possibility of parole involves speculation as to what future officials in another branch of government will or will not do. ( People v. Thompson, supra, 45 Cal.3d 86, 139.) The evidence defendant sought to admit assumed that the specific security measures of daily prison life would remain unchanged throughout his supposed life sentence. It also presupposed that defendant would be housed at a particular facility that had the safety measures depicted in the photographic exhibits. As the trial court recognized, it was not reasonable to assume that these precise conditions would remain static throughout a life sentence, and the court properly limited Esten's testimony to general descriptions of prison life. ( People v. Fauber (1992) 2 Cal.4th 792, 856 [9 Cal.Rptr.2d 24, 831 P.2d 249] [even at the penalty phase of a capital trial, the trial court determines relevancy in the first instance and retains discretion to exclude evidence whose probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will create substantial danger of confusing the issues or misleading the jury]; see also Lockett v. Ohio (1978) 438 U.S. 586, 604, fn. 12 [57 L.Ed.2d 973, 98 S.Ct. 2954].) The trial court's ruling was narrow and did not otherwise interfere with Esten's opinions concerning defendant's future dangerousness or his ability to conform to a structured environment.