Opinion ID: 2507854
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 8

Heading: Impeachment of Defense Witnesses with Prior Arrests

Text: On cross-examination, the prosecution attempted to elicit the arrest records of three defense witnesses who testified at the penalty phase  Renae Alvarez, who testified about the Marshall assault on May 25, 1990; Jose Guillen, who testified about the incident in the Orange County jail on January 1, 1992; and Robert Laimbeer, who testified about the incident involving Deputy Crisp on May 30, 1993. Although this was error, defendant was not prejudiced. Since the prosecution properly used prior felony convictions to impeach Guillen (one) and Laimbeer (at least five), the jury would not have needed to rely on mere arrests in evaluating the credibility of those witnesses. ( People v. Medina (1995) 11 Cal.4th 694, 769, 47 Cal. Rptr.2d 165, 906 P.2d 2.) Although Alvarez did not have a felony conviction, her bias was amply established by evidence of her boyfriend's membership in defendant's gang, her conviction for vandalizing the Marshalls' van, and her obligation to pay restitution to the Marshalls. We also note that the jury was instructed that misdemeanor convictions, misdemeanor arrests or any reference thereto, should not be considered should they involve crimes against property, assaultive-type conduct, including but not limited to conduct such as discharging a firearm. These crimes do not reflect on a person's honesty and veracity and you are admonished to disregard any such evidence which has not previously been excluded or an objection sustained [thereto]. Again, you may only consider felony convictions or misdemeanor conduct which bears on a witness's veracity or truthfulness as I have previously indicated unless directed otherwise. As defendant points out, this instruction was internally inconsistent: on the one hand, it correctly told the jury to consider only felony convictions or misdemeanor conduct that bore on the witness's veracity or truthfulness, yet, on the other hand, it might have suggested (erroneously) that misdemeanor arrests for offenses that bore on a witness's veracity (and thus did not involve crimes against property or assaultive-type conduct) could also be considered. The prosecution established that Alvarez  but not Guillen or Laimbeer  had arrests of this type. Even assuming the instruction was error as to Alvarez, however, we nonetheless find it harmless, for the reasons stated above.