Opinion ID: 1172140
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Exclusion of Evidence Regarding Alternative Sentence of Life Without Parole

Text: (11) Defendant sought to admit the testimony of an expert on prisons regarding the prison conditions he would experience if he were sentenced to life without parole instead of receiving the death penalty. The trial court excluded this evidence as irrelevant. Defendant challenges this ruling. Defendant presents five arguments in support of his claim, four of which are constitutionally based and one of which is statutory: (1) his right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment to the federal Constitution entitled him to present this evidence because other evidence presented at trial depicted life in federal penal institutions as pleasant and comfortable; (2) his right to due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment of the Eighth Amendment to the federal Constitution entitled him to present this evidence to rebut the prosecution's argument of future dangerousness in custody; (3) the evidence was relevant and admissible mitigating evidence under the Eighth Amendment as interpreted in Skipper v. South Carolina (1986) 476 U.S. 1 [106 S.Ct. 1669, 90 L.Ed.2d 1]; (4) his right to due process entitled him to introduce this evidence so that the jury would understand the nature of the sentencing alternatives available to it; (5) the evidence was admissible under Penal Code section 190.3. We have previously held that evidence of the conditions of confinement that a defendant will experience if sentenced to life imprisonment without parole is irrelevant to the jury's penalty determination because it does not relate to the defendant's character, culpability, or the circumstances of the offense. ( 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].) Its admission is not required either by the federal Constitution or by Penal Code section 190.3. ( People v. Daniels, supra, 52 Cal.3d at pp. 876-878; People v. Thompson, supra, 45 Cal.3d at pp. 138-139.) This disposes of defendant's third, fourth, and fifth arguments. Defendant maintains that, notwithstanding this authority to the contrary, the evidence was relevant in this case because the jury received evidence mentioning the conditions at FCI, the federal prison where defendant, defendant's wife, Younge, McIntosh, Anthony, and witness Talbert Gregory had been incarcerated, and conditions at a Pennsylvania prison where defendant had been incarcerated in the 1970's. Witnesses testified that FCI was a co-ed facility where prisoners of opposite sexes mingled, formed relationships (defendant, for example, met his wife there), and picnicked together on the grounds, and where prisoners were paid to participate in vocational training, played cards and backgammon, and could wander at will between each other's rooms. Defendant contends that this evidence left the jury with the false impression that if he were sentenced to life imprisonment in the California penal system he would serve his sentence under similarly comfortable conditions, and that he was entitled to rebut this misimpression. Defendant relies on People v. Mason (1991) 52 Cal.3d 909, 960-961 [277 Cal. Rptr. 166, 802 P.2d 950], a case in which the defendant had presented evidence suggesting that he could be confined under close supervision in a secured housing unit in prison and that he was not dangerous when confined under such conditions. At the penalty phase, the prosecution offered evidence that, in the absence of continuing misbehavior, the defendant would not be confined in a secured housing unit for more than one year. We concluded: In view of the evidence about defendant's confinement, the trial court could reasonably have concluded that the jury had been left with a misleading impression about the conditions under which defendant would be held if sentenced to life without possibility of parole. Because the defense had elicited some of this evidence and had exploited it in an attempt to show that defendant was not dangerous, [the prosecution's evidence that the defendant would not be confined in a secured housing unit for more than one year] was arguably proper rebuttal. ( Id. at p. 961, italics added.) We also held that admission of the evidence was harmless. In this case, we question whether defendant's excluded evidence would have been even arguably proper as rebuttal. Unlike People v. Mason, supra, 52 Cal.3d 909, here the prosecution did not deliberately elicit and exploit the evidence concerning the conditions at FCI and the Pennsylvania prison. The evidence defendant complains of was presented at the guilt phase, and no reference was made to it during the penalty phase. That evidence came in in passing during the course of other testimony, and the prosecution made no effort to focus the jury's attention on it, either during the presentation of evidence or during argument in the penalty phase. Nor did the prosecution otherwise suggest that defendant would be incarcerated under conditions similar to those at FCI or the Pennsylvania prison if he were sentenced to life without parole. There is nothing to support defendant's contention that the jury surmised that if defendant were sentenced to life without parole he would be incarcerated under conditions similar to those he had experienced previously in other prison systems while serving lesser sentences for lesser crimes. Accordingly, the presentation of the evidence regarding the conditions at FCI and the Pennsylvania prison did not trigger a due process right to present evidence regarding the conditions under which defendant would be incarcerated if sentenced to life without parole. In addition, the prosecutor's argument regarding defendant's potential for violence in prison did not give rise to a constitutional right to introduce evidence of conditions of confinement. The prosecutor's argument came in a discussion of mitigating evidence introduced by defendant under factor (k) of Penal Code section 190.3. Its purpose was to rebut the defense argument that, based on the records of defendant's previous incarcerations, he would behave well in prison if sentenced to life without parole; it was not an argument that defendant should be executed because he would be violent in prison. The prosecutor's argument on the point was brief: However, one thing to think about, he has always done well in prison except in Florida for one very simple reason, I suspect, because he knew that he would soon get out. And he knew how to get along because he would soon get out. As he did. [¶] This time, if he's given life without possibility of parole, he'll not get out and that is substantially different. Will then the real face of Drax Quartermain come to the fore again in prison? Will we have that consciousless [ sic ] man always ready to resort to violence to get his way, to make his way, no longer need to curry favor with any authorities in prison. Will we see again that sneaky killer who shoots when his victims are helpless? [¶] What I have just said concerning the records from Pennsylvania and the comments they are on  and also from Florida, has only to do with factor K, only to do with factor K. [¶] And what I am attempting to show is that the attempt by the defense to present mitigating evidence really is not very mitigating whatsoever when you consider the entirety of Mr. Quartermain. The prosecutor's argument properly focused on defendant's character and record. (See People v. Daniels, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 878.) The prosecutor argued that defendant's past record of good behavior might not hold true if he were sentenced to life without parole, not that the prison system would be incapable of restraining or controlling any violence by defendant. The proper rebuttal to this argument was other evidence and argument directed to defendant's character and record, not evidence concerning the conditions of confinement if he were sentenced to life without parole.