Opinion ID: 1801755
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Trial court's denial of a continuance

Text: On the day the jury reached a verdict on defendant's guilt, the trial court declined to grant defendant a continuance of one day, and ordered the penalty phase to begin the next day. Defendant contends the trial court abused its discretion, and that the denial of a continuance violated his rights to due process of law, to effective assistance of counsel, to present a defense, and to a fair and reliable determination of penalty, in violation of the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and under article I, section 15 of the California Constitution. The decision whether to grant a continuance of a hearing to permit counsel to secure the presence of a witness rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. ( People v. Roybal (1998) 19 Cal.4th 481, 504 [79 Cal.Rptr.2d 487, 966 P.2d 521].) We find no abuse of discretion in the circumstances of this case. Because the guilt phase of the trial exceeded the expected time, the trial court was concerned that jurors would have commitments that would cause them to rush their penalty phase deliberations. The trial court undertook to balance that concern against defendant's asserted need for an additional day to arrange for his witnesses to be transported to the trial. Although the court ordered that the People's case would begin the next day, it acknowledged the difficulties in arranging transportation and stated that we'll work with whatever schedules we have to work with. On the first day of the penalty phase, defense counsel informed the court that all of defendant's witnesses would be available to testify at 1:30 p.m. the next day. When two of defendant's witnesses did not arrive in time to testify on the second day of the penalty phase, the trial court scheduled time for further testimony on the following day. The defense did not produce these two witnesses on the third day of the penalty phase; instead, defense counsel informed the court that the defense would not call any additional witnesses. The defense did not indicate that this development was attributable to an inability to arrange for the witnesses' presence. Thus, although the trial court declined to delay the People's presentation of evidence, it did not compel defendant to proceed with his case in the absence of his witnesses. Defendant contends the denial of a continuance deprived his counsel of a reasonable opportunity to prepare defense witnesses to testify. Defense counsel repeatedly stated that a continuance was required to arrange transportation, and never indicated that additional time was required to prepare witnesses. It was the trial court that noted that defense counsel would probably want to sit down and talk to your witnesses. When defense counsel responded by proposing that the next day's session begin at 11:00 a.m., the trial court agreed. Under these circumstances, defendant cannot be heard to complain that the trial court denied him adequate time to prepare his witnesses. Because the trial court did not compel defendant to proceed in the absence of his witnesses, and accommodated defense counsel's request that the court session be delayed to allow time to prepare his witnesses, defendant was not deprived of his right to due process of law, his right to the effective assistance of counsel, his right to present a defense, or his right to a fair and reliable determination of penalty.