Opinion ID: 1374541
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Cross-examination About Specific Crimes Covered by Immunity Agreement

Text: (2a) Klaess testified on direct and cross-examination that under her plea bargain she was granted immunity from prosecution for all crimes allegedly committed in California up to December 22, 1978, in exchange for her truthful testimony and her plea of guilty to being an accessory after the fact of murder. She testified that the immunity covered not only the murders themselves but also the three robberies and two car thefts in which she had participated along with appellant, as described in her testimony. Outside the presence of the jury, defense counsel stated he intended to ask Klaess whether she understood the immunity specifically applied to two additional robberies (naming the victims) in Sacramento in 1978 and asked that the district attorney instruct Klaess not to volunteer any details of those robberies beyond the scope of the questions asked. The district attorney stated that appellant had been involved with Klaess in both those robberies and that he would be willing to tell Klaess not to volunteer details. The court pointed out that because Klaess had testified that she and appellant lived together intermittently throughout 1978, the jury might infer that appellant was involved in those robberies even without testimony to that effect. The court ruled that the question about the two robberies would be disallowed under Evidence Code section 352 as prejudicial to both sides. The ruling was thereafter broadened to cover any inquiry into additional specific crimes that would be covered by the immunity agreement. (3) An accused is entitled to explore on cross-examination of a prosecuting witness the inducements from the prosecution that may have motivated testimony. ( Davis v. Alaska (1974) 415 U.S. 308, 315-318 [39 L.Ed.2d 347, 353-355, 94 S.Ct. 1105]; People v. Duran (1976) 16 Cal.3d 282, 294 [127 Cal. Rptr. 618, 545 P.2d 1322, 90 A.L.R.3d 1]; People v. Winston (1956) 46 Cal.2d 151, 157 [293 P.2d 40].) (2b) In attacking the present ruling, appellant relies principally on People v. Allen (1978) 77 Cal. App.3d 924 [144 Cal. Rptr. 6], where defendant was charged with committing a robbery in concert with a minor, who was the chief prosecution witness. Defendant in Allen was permitted to show that charges against the minor arising out of that robbery were still pending but was refused permission to cross-examine either the minor or his mother concerning pending charges against the minor of two other robberies. That refusal was held to be reversible error because [t]he minor could have reasonably believed his punishment would have been greater for the three charges than for the one, and the defendant had the right to show that both the minor and his mother were possibly under greater prosecution pressure because of three recent robbery charges than only one. (P. 933.) Here the jury knew that in exchange for her testimony Klaess was escaping prosecution at least for two murders (other than as accessory after the fact), three robberies (two of which involved kidnappings), and two car thefts. Evidence that she was chargeable with, and being immunized for, two more robberies would not have added significantly to the already formidable attack on her credibility and would have risked imputing additional prior crimes to appellant. There is no indication from the extensive colloquy in the record that appellant was prepared to prove additional prior crimes for which Klaess was being immunized, apart from the two alleged Sacramento robberies. Appellant argues that the potential prejudice to him was irrelevant in assessing the admissibility of evidence offered by his counsel, since it was counsel's prerogative to weigh tactical risks to the defense. But defense counsel also stated to the court that if appellant's connection with the two additional robberies were to come out inadvertently, as through a nonresponsive answer, he might move for a mistrial. The court could weigh that possibility in exercising its discretion under Evidence Code section 352. [2]