Opinion ID: 2595083
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Jury Instruction Pertaining to Others Involved in Criminal Activity with Defendant

Text: At the penalty phase, the trial court read to the jury an instruction based on CALJIC No. 2.11.5: There has been evidence in this case indicating that a person other than defendant was or may have also been involved in the criminal activity [in] which the defendant is alleged to have been involved. [¶] There may be many reasons why such person is not here on trial. Therefore, do not discuss or give any consideration to why the other person is not being prosecuted in this trial, whether he has been or will be prosecuted. Your sole duty is to decide whether the People have proved that the defendant was involved in such criminal activity. Defendant asserts that the only person to whom this instruction pertained was prosecution witness Earl Rodrigues, who along with defendant was arrested for the murder of Caseri although, like defendant, he was never charged with the crime. Defendant argues that the trial court should not have given the instruction because Rodrigues testified, thus entitling the jury to consider why Rodrigues had not been prosecuted in evaluating his credibility as a witness. The instruction was indeed improper. We have often said that trial courts should not give CALJIC 2.11.5 in an unmodified form when, as here, a person who might have been prosecuted for the crime has testified at trial. ( People v. Lawley, supra, 27 Cal.4th at p. 162, 115 Cal.Rptr.2d 614, 38 P.3d 461; People v. Williams, supra, 16 Cal.4th at pp. 226-227, 66 Cal. Rptr.2d 123, 940 P.2d 710; People v. Cain (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1, 35, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 481, 892 P.2d 1224; People v. Hardy (1992) 2 Cal.4th 86,190, 5 Cal.Rptr.2d 796, 825 P.2d 781; People v. Price (1991) 1 Cal.4th 324, 446, 3 Cal.Rptr.2d 106, 821 P.2d 610; People v. Cox (1991) 53 Cal.3d 618, 667, 280 Cal.Rptr. 692, 809 P.2d 351.) We consider the prejudicial effect of this error in part III. E., below.