Opinion ID: 2590211
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Admission of evidence concerning Joseph F. incident

Text: Defendant contends the trial court erred in admitting evidence that he had committed sexual offenses against Joseph F. in 1970, when Joseph was 13 years old. The evidence was unreliable, defendant argues, due to its age, the fact no criminal charge was ever brought and no statements made to the police at the time of the incident were preserved, and in light of Joseph F.'s request that authorities provide him sums of money in connection with his testimony against defendant. We conclude the trial court acted within its discretion in admitting the evidence. Section 190.3, factor (b) provides for the admission, during the penalty phase of a capital trial, of evidence of any criminal activity by the defendant involving the use or attempted use of force or violence. The incident related by Joseph F. fit this definition: Defendant, Joseph testified, gave him drugs that negated his ability to resist, then sodomized him. As this evidence clearly fell within section 190.3, factor (b), the trial court had but limited discretion whether to admit it, such discretion going only to the manner in which the evidence was presented. ( People v. Bacigalupo (1991) 1 Cal.4th 103, 140, 2 Cal.Rptr.2d 335, 820 P.2d 559; People v. Karis (1988) 46 Cal.3d 612, 641, 250 Cal. Rptr. 659, 758 P.2d 1189.) Defendant complains the remoteness in time of the incident deprived the evidence of reliability, but we have held remoteness affects the weight, not the admissibility, of such evidence. ( People v. Rodrigues (1994) 8 Cal.4th 1060, 1161, 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 235, 885 P.2d 1.) Defendant argues he was unable to defend against the evidence. The record, however, reflects that trial counsel vigorously attacked Joseph F.'s credibility, presenting evidence that Joseph's mother had told school personnel her son was a pathological liar, that Joseph had never told his parents he was sexually assaulted, and that Joseph had suffered various criminal convictions and had asked law enforcement authorities for $500 to get his car repaired and later for a $1,000 loan, although did not, in the end, receive money for his testimony. Moreover, the jury was instructed not to consider the offenses against Joseph F. unless it found beyond a reasonable doubt defendant had committed them. In any event, even if the trial court had erred in admitting Joseph F.'s testimony, there is no reasonable possibility defendant would have obtained a more favorable verdict absent the error, given that the jury had found defendant guilty of 16 murders and heard compelling evidence of eight additional murders during the penalty phase. (See People v. Roberts (1992) 2 Cal.4th 271, 327, 6 Cal.Rptr.2d 276, 826 P.2d 274.)