Opinion ID: 2543191
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 22

Heading: Questions about Satanism

Text: As recounted above in part 3, the prosecution asked defendant's mother Jennifer McNees if defendant became interested in Satanism at some point in his life. The trial court sustained counsel's objection to that question on Evidence Code section 352 grounds, i.e., that the probative value of such evidence would be outweighed by its prejudicial effect. The prosecutor did ask whether defendant at one point listened to a lot of heavy metal music, and whether defendant ever had a cross hanging upside down in his room. McNees answered affirmatively to the first question and I don't recall to the second. Defendant claims misconduct, contending that the prosecution asked about defendant's association with Satanism without any good faith belief that such evidence existed in order to plant a seed in the jury's mind that there was such association. The record does not indicate bad faith on the prosecutor's part. Rather, a probation report revealed defendant's interest in heavy metal music and that he at one point had an upside-down cross in his room. Furthermore, McNees refused to speak to the prosecution. The prosecution legitimately sought to counter defense evidence that painted defendant in a sympathetic light with questions designed to probe the probation report material. Although the trial court sustained the objection to the prosecution's question regarding Satanism, the question itself did not rise to the level of misconduct, nor did the follow-up questions regarding the upsidedown cross or heavy metal music.