Opinion ID: 1176393
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Prosecutorial Misconduct (Doyle Error).

Text: (37a) Defendant contends that the prosecutor committed misconduct during argument by calling the jury's attention to defendant's exercise of his right to counsel during a taped interview with police shortly after his arrest. Defendant contends that the argument violated his federal due process rights and requires reversal under Wainwright v. Greenfield (1986) 474 U.S. 284 [88 L.Ed.2d 623, 106 S.Ct. 634]. At the outset of the interview, when asked if he knew what his rights were, defendant responded: To pay taxes, to die, and uh  what else? When defendant was advised of his rights per Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 [16 L.Ed.2d 694, 86 S.Ct. 1602, 10 A.L.R.3d 974], defendant said he wanted an attorney and also a bail bondsman, but he was willing to talk to the interviewing officers without an attorney present. [13] The prosecutor, in his summation, suggested the jury play the tape during deliberations. He then stated: Listen to his [i.e., defendant's] tone of voice.... Listen to when he's advised of his constitutional rights; when he's saying, `Yeah, I want a lawyer. I want bail. I want a lawyer. I want to get bail.' ... Listen to him when he is advised of his rights and what his attitude is. Here is a man who has been the victim of this horrendous thing where he has seen his, apparently his best friend, shoot this boy he claims that was so close to him, although no witness who testified in the trial has come close to saying Edward was this close and an ever-present companion that Mr. Crandell wants you to believe that he was. And how is this person talking to the police at his first opportunity after he has in self-defense, his allegation, shot and killed his best friend? He's advised of his rights. `Do you know what your rights are?' `To pay taxes, to die and what else?' Now, that is the attitude of that fellow who has just been brought in on this serious charge, and that's his flippant response. Wainwright v. Greenfield, supra, 474 U.S. 284, concerned a prosecutor's argument to the jury that the defendant's repeated refusals to answer questions without first consulting an attorney demonstrated a degree of comprehension inconsistent with the defendant's claim of insanity. This argument was held to be a violation of federal due process rights under the reasoning of Doyle v. Ohio (1976) 426 U.S. 610 [49 L.Ed.2d 91, 96 S.Ct. 2240]. (38) Wainwright and Doyle are founded on the notion that it is fundamentally unfair to use post- Miranda silence against the defendant at trial in view of the implicit assurance contained in the Miranda warnings that exercise of the right of silence will not be penalized. ( Wainwright v. Greenfield, supra, 474 U.S. at p. 295 [88 L.Ed.2d at p. 629, 106 S.Ct. at p. 638].) A similar process of reasoning supports the conclusion that comment which penalizes exercise of the right to counsel is also prohibited. ( People v. Fabert (1982) 127 Cal. App.3d 604, 610-611 [179 Cal. Rptr. 702]; People v. Schindler (1980) 114 Cal. App.3d 178, 188-189 [170 Cal. Rptr. 461].) (37b) Here the evidence of defendant's invocation of the right to counsel was received without objection and the remarks of the prosecutor did not invite the jury to draw any adverse inference from either the fact or the timing of defendant's exercise of his constitutional right. The prosecutor mentioned the invocation of counsel primarily as a point of reference within the taped interview to assist the jury in locating an area where the prosecution believed that the tone of defendant's statements, and particularly his references to the rights to die and pay taxes, appeared to be inconsistent with defendant's statements about the events of the preceding night and about his relationships with the two decedents. In Wainwright it was not contested that a prosecutor may legitimately inquire into and comment upon `purely demeanor or behavior evidence.' (474 U.S. at p. 295, fn. 13 [88 L.Ed.2d at p. 632, 106 S.Ct. at p. 641, fn. 13].) In any event, if the remarks had the objectionable effect of drawing the jury's attention to the exercise of protected rights, the verdicts were certainly not affected by this brief and mild reference to matters already properly received in evidence and any error was manifestly harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. (See People v. Ghent (1987) 43 Cal.3d 739, 771 [239 Cal. Rptr. 82, 739 P.2d 1250]; People v. Jackson, supra, 28 Cal.3d 264, 304-305; People v. Vargas (1973) 9 Cal.3d 470, 478-481 [108 Cal. Rptr. 15, 509 P.2d 959]). [14]