Opinion ID: 1801948
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Alleged error in admitting Mitzi Cowan's testimony

Text: Mitzi Cowan, who was Jewell Russell's daughter and in 1984 the girlfriend of defendant's brother Gerald, testified that one day during the first week of September defendant and Gerry Tags came to visit the apartment Mitzi shared with Gerald. About 5:00 p.m., defendant and Gerald left the apartment together. Gerald returned alone about 10:00 p.m. and asked Mitzi if he could use her car; she agreed and gave him the keys. Gerald returned alone again about 1:00 a.m. About two hours later defendant knocked on the door. Gerald rushed downstairs and yelled at defendant, Where did you go? Where did you go? Why did you leave me? Defendant was wearing different clothes than those he had on when he left. A few days later, Mitzi learned her father had been killed. Over defendant's objection and mistrial motion, Mitzi further testified that when Gerald returned alone about 1:00 a.m., he threw two hundred some odd dollars on the bed. The money was folded in half. Earlier, Mitzi had testified that her father always carried his money in his front pocket, the bills folded neatly in half. Defendant argues the trial court abused its discretion by admitting Mitzi's testimony that when Gerald returned at 1:00 a.m., he threw $200 in folded currency on the bed. He contends the evidence was irrelevant in the absence of independent evidence of a conspiracy between defendant and Gerald to kill Russell. (Cf. People v. Leach (1975) 15 Cal.3d 419, 430 [124 Cal.Rptr. 752, 541 P.2d 296]; People v. Herrera (2000) 83 Cal.App.4th 46, 61 [98 Cal.Rptr.2d 911].) He asserts the testimony prejudiced him because those jurors who believed his guilt of Russell's murder had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt were permitted to consider that murder in aggravation at the penalty phase. He argues that absent Mitzi's testimony about Gerald's possession of the folded currency, which linked the suspicious activities of defendant and Gerald to the murder of Russell, there would have been fewer or no jurors who believed defendant's guilt of Russell's murder had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. (26) Defendant confuses the question of relevance with that of the admissibility of hearsay. Under Evidence Code section 1223, evidence of a hearsay statement of a coconspirator is inadmissible against the defendant absent `independent evidence to establish prima facie the existence of . . . [a] conspiracy.' ( People v. Hardy (1992) 2 Cal.4th 86, 139 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 796, 825 P.2d 781], quoting People v. Leach, supra, 15 Cal.3d at p. 430; see also Evid. Code, § 1223, subd. (c).) A statement for these purposes may include conduct, but only conduct that is intended . . . as a substitute for oral or written verbal expression. (Evid. Code, § 225; see People v. Lewis, supra, 43 Cal.4th at pp. 497-498.) Here, defendant does not argue that Gerald's possession of $200 in folded currency was intended as a substitute for oral or written verbal expression. Nor could he. Gerald's conduct in possessing the currency was simply that: conduct, without any associated expression of meaning. (27) That being the case, the heightened standards for the admission of hearsay do not apply, and defendant points to no other principle of law that would require proof of a conspiracy before evidence of the nonassertive conduct of someone other than the defendant may be admitted into evidence. The only question, then, is whether the evidence was relevant. We recently summarized the applicable principles: Only relevant evidence is admissible (Evid. Code, §§ 210, 350), and all relevant evidence is admissible unless excluded under the federal or state Constitutions or by statute. (Evid. Code, § 351; see also Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (d); People v. Heard (2003) 31 Cal.4th 946, 972-973 [4 Cal.Rptr.3d 131, 75 P.3d 53] ( Heard ).) The test of relevance is whether the evidence `tends logically, naturally, and by reasonable inference to establish material facts such as identity, intent, or motive.' ( People v. Garceau (1993) 6 Cal.4th 140, 177 [24 Cal.Rptr.2d 664, 862 P.2d 664].) The trial court has broad discretion in determining the relevance of evidence, but lacks discretion to admit irrelevant evidence. (See People v. Crittenden (1994) 9 Cal.4th 83, 132 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 474, 885 P.2d 887].) We review for abuse of discretion a trial court's rulings on the admissibility of evidence. ( Heard, at pp. 972, 974; People v. Rowland (1992) 4 Cal.4th 238, 264 [14 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 841 P.2d 897].) ( People v. Benavides (2005) 35 Cal.4th 69, 90 [24 Cal.Rptr.3d 507, 105 P.3d 1099].) Here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Mitzi's testimony regarding Gerald's possession of the $200 in folded currency was relevant to the question whether defendant was involved in killing Russell. Because the money was folded in half the way Russell folded his money, the evidence tended to show that Russell was the person from whom Gerald had obtained the money. Other evidenceincluding Mitzi's testimony that Gerald and defendant left the apartment together at 5:00 p.m. and that when defendant returned at 3:00 a.m. Gerald was angry with defendant for having left himtended to show that Gerald and defendant had been involved in some activity together between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., when Gerald had returned alone. Accordingly, the evidence in its totality had some tendency to establish that between those hours, defendant and Gerald had engaged in some activity connected to Russell. We hold the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Mitzi's testimony that Gerald possessed the folded currency.