Opinion ID: 1228032
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Kenneth Allen's Plea Bargain

Text: Defendant claims he was denied a fair trial because of an allegedly unlawful plea bargain between the district attorney's office and his son Kenneth  a key witness for the prosecution. On September 9, 1980, Kenneth Allen was arrested on drug charges. That same day, the police conducted a tape-recorded interview with Kenneth concerning the Fran's Market incident. Kenneth initially maintained that during the first week in September his cousin had stayed one night with Kenneth and his family. After continued questioning, Kenneth eventually admitted the visitor was not his cousin but a man named Billy. He also admitted defendant had told him to expect a call from Billy, who would be coming to town and would need a place to stay. Kenneth insisted that Billy had spent only two nights with him and that he had driven Billy to the bus depot early in the morning of September 5. Six days later, after Kenneth learned that Billy Hamilton had been arrested, he asked for another interview with the police. At the outset of the tape-recorded interview Kenneth said he had certain information about defendant's participation in the Fran's Market incident and that, in exchange for this information, he wanted protective custody, release on his own recognizance and his choice of prisons. The district attorney agreed to Kenneth's demands on the condition he agree to testify truthfully at the preliminary hearing of Hamilton and Barbo. It was made clear to Kenneth that no deal was being made concerning either the drug charges or possible homicide charges against him and that he would not be given immunity from prosecution for anything he told the police. With his attorney present, Kenneth agreed to the district attorney's terms and was advised of his Miranda rights. Kenneth explained that during a visit with his father at Folsom Prison on August 17, 1980, defendant told him Hamilton would be coming to Fresno to get some things done for me, including the robbery of Fran's Market and the murder of Ray and Bryon Schletewitz. Kenneth admitted he did not take Hamilton to the bus depot as he had earlier claimed, but insisted he did not provide Hamilton with the shotgun used in the killings. Approximately three weeks later, on October 7, 1980, Kenneth initiated a third interview with law enforcement officials. After consulting with his attorney by phone, and having again been advised of his Miranda rights, Kenneth told the police that during his August 17 prison visit defendant told him Hamilton was going to kill everyone who testified against defendant in his 1977 murder trial so that, in the event defendant's pending appeal was successful, there would be no witnesses to testify against him on retrial. Kenneth further stated that he was supposed to provide Hamilton with weapons for the Fran's Market killings and did, in fact, provide Hamilton with transportation, money, a shotgun and a revolver. On October 15 and 16, Kenneth testified at the Hamilton-Barbo preliminary hearing in exchange for release on his own recognizance and his choice of prisons. His testimony was generally consistent with his third statement to police and implicated defendant, Hamilton and Barbo in the Fran's Market killings. Four months later, in February 1981, Kenneth entered into a plea agreement under which he agreed to testify truthfully and completely in all proceedings against Hamilton, Barbo and defendant, in exchange for which he would be allowed to plead to a violation of section 32 (accessory to murder) and Health and Safety Code section 11377, subdivision (a) (possession of a controlled substance). [4] It was Kenneth's understanding that the district attorney would recommend a three-year sentence for each offense to run concurrently and that, with time off for good behavior, he would be out of prison in two years. In mid-May 1981 Kenneth testified at defendant's preliminary hearing. As with the Hamilton-Barbo preliminary hearing, Kenneth's testimony was generally consistent with the statement he gave to police on October 7, 1980. On July 10, 1981, however, Kenneth sent a letter to defendant in prison. The letter, which was intercepted by prison officials, stated in part: Dad Ive been doing a lot of thinking about all this shit and I'm still confused but I believe things will work out okay for everybody but me but that's okay I haven't got anything to live for anyway, but you do so I'm going to tell them the real truth the next time we go to court, and that should clear you but I want the death penalty. But I dont want the gas chamber. I want to donate my body to people who can use the parts. Like my heart, lung, kidneys, eyeball, and all that stuff, if I can die that way I'll feel okay about death in the Bible it say no greater deed can a man do than to give his life, so another may live so after I clear you with the truth, and give my organs to people who need them maybe one of you will live and God might have grace on me for what I'm doing with my life.... [¶] I would do anything just for the chance to make our marriage work just so I could then grow up like a real dad should do but its not in the stars for me to get that chance so maybe this way they will remember me as the man who gave them back there grandfather and that way you wont let them forget me will ya. I hope not at least everything they see or hear, from you they may think of me from time to time I sure hope so. Dad we both know these people just want an Allen so after I tell them the truth they will have one, that way they may lighten up on you I sure hope so. On July 22, 1981, Deputy District Attorney Jerry Jones and Investigator William Martin confronted Kenneth with the letter. He admitted writing it and stated his testimony at defendant's preliminary hearing had been untruthful in a number of respects. Specifically, he told Martin and Jones that Hamilton had come to Fresno not to execute anyone, but to help Kenneth fence some guns. He claimed that he and Hamilton had discussed the robbery but no killing was ever mentioned or planned. Thereafter Jones told Kenneth that in his opinion, Kenneth had violated the plea agreement and the agreement was therefore terminated. Kenneth was then read his Miranda rights and, when he asked to speak with his attorney, the questioning ceased. Kenneth was subsequently charged with the Fran's Market killings. A week later, while being transported to his arraignment, Kenneth told Martin that his testimony in the preliminary hearings of Hamilton, Barbo and defendant was in fact truthful, that he intended to testify to the same story in the future, and that what he had written in the July 10 letter to his father was not true. In late August Kenneth's attorney requested a meeting with Martin. With his attorney present, and having been advised of his Miranda rights, Kenneth explained he wrote the July 10 letter because of pressure from his wife, Kathy, who had a very close relationship with defendant. Kenneth told Martin that in exchange for writing the letter, his wife resumed giving him sexual favors during contact visits, he was able to receive some drugs while in jail, and conditions had generally improved for him as a result of writing the letter. He assured Martin the story he told at the preliminary hearings was the truth. Nevertheless, the district attorney's office maintained the plea agreement with Kenneth was terminated. Before defendant's trial, a hearing was held to determine whether Kenneth would testify. In response to questions from both the prosecution and the court, Kenneth stated repeatedly that he knew it was the district attorney's position there was no plea agreement and that he would receive nothing for his testimony in defendant's case, and that by testifying he would waive his privilege against self-incrimination. Nevertheless, Kenneth stated, he wanted to testify truthfully and honestly at defendant's trial. Kenneth testified at trial for the prosecution. His testimony regarding defendant's involvement in the Fran's Market killings was consistent with the testimony he had given at defendant's preliminary hearing and at the preliminary hearing of Hamilton and Barbo. Kenneth also testified at length concerning his three tape-recorded statements to the police, his agreement to testify at the Hamilton-Barbo preliminary hearing in exchange for release on his own recognizance and his choice of prisons, and his plea agreement with the district attorney's office. He testified he wrote the July 10 letter at his wife's request in an attempt to confuse law enforcement officials and to discredit his own testimony. He explained he believed his testimony was indispensable to the prosecution's case against his father and that by discrediting his own testimony he might help defendant escape a murder conviction. Kenneth further testified that he wrote the July 10 letter believing it would have no legal effect on his plea agreement and that as long as he testified truthfully and willingly at defendant's trial, the plea agreement would be binding. On both direct and cross-examination, Kenneth made clear he understood it was the position of both the district attorney's office and the attorney general's office that no plea agreement then existed. Nevertheless, Kenneth testified he believed the February plea agreement was still in effect, and that by testifying at defendant's trial he was trying to comply with the agreement. He denied, however, that he was fabricating his trial testimony in an attempt to induce the district attorney's office to honor the agreement. Defense counsel asked Kenneth whether he felt the district attorney's office would have to abide by the plea agreement if Kenneth testified at trial as he had testified at defendant's preliminary hearing, to which Kenneth answered, Yes. (1a) Defendant argues Kenneth's plea agreement was conditioned on his trial testimony conforming to the statement he gave the police on October 7, 1980. Because this placed Kenneth under a strong compulsion to testify in conformance with his October 7 statement, defendant argues, the plea agreement and his son's highly incriminating testimony denied him a fair trial. (2a) [A] defendant is denied a fair trial if the prosecution's case depends substantially upon accomplice testimony and the accomplice witness is placed, either by the prosecution or the court, under a strong compulsion to testify in a particular fashion. ( People v. Medina (1974) 41 Cal. App.3d 438, 455 [116 Cal. Rptr. 133].) Thus, when the accomplice is granted immunity subject to the condition that his testimony substantially conform to an earlier statement given to police ( id., at p. 450), or that his testimony result in the defendant's conviction ( People v. Green (1951) 102 Cal. App.2d 831, 837-839 [228 P.2d 867]), the accomplice's testimony is tainted beyond redemption ( Rex v. Robinson (1921) 30 B.C.R. 369) and its admission denies the defendant a fair trial. [5] (3a) On the other hand, although there is a certain degree of compulsion inherent in any plea agreement or grant of immunity, it is clear that an agreement requiring only that the witness testify fully and truthfully is valid. ( People v. Fields, supra, 35 Cal.3d 329, 361; People v. Lyons (1958) 50 Cal.2d 245, 266 [324 P.2d 556].) (1b) Defendant repeatedly asserts the record discloses Kenneth's testimony was immutably tied to his pretrial statement of October 7, 1980. He appears to argue that because the district attorney's office offered Kenneth a plea bargain only after his October 7 statement, it was implicitly made clear to him that his testimony at trial was expected to be the same as his statement to the police on October 7. This, defendant argues, is indistinguishable from People v. Medina, supra, 41 Cal. App.3d 438, in which the court held the defendant was denied a fair trial because two key witnesses had testified pursuant to a plea agreement requiring that they not materially or substantially change their testimony from the tape-recorded statements they had earlier given to police. On the contrary, we believe this case is much more similar to People v. Fields, supra, 35 Cal.3d 329, in which we upheld the plea agreement. In Fields, defendant's sister, Gail, entered into a plea agreement under which she agreed to testify as to the truth of certain events in exchange for her plea of guilty to being an accessory to murder. In response to questions by defense counsel, Gail stated she agreed to testify in accord with her last statement to the police, but in response to the district attorney's questions, she stated that she had agreed only to tell the truth. After noting that Gail's statements concerning the terms of the plea agreement were not necessarily inconsistent, [6] we held these statements were insufficient to demonstrate either that the plea bargain required her to testify in conformance with her earlier statement to police or that she so understood the agreement. We recognize that a witness in Gail Fields' position is under some compulsion to testify in accord with statements given to the police or the prosecution. The district attorney in the present case obviously believed that Gail's last statement was a truthful account, and if she deviated materially from it he might take the position that she had breached the bargain, and could be prosecuted as a principal to murder. (3b) But despite this element of compulsion, it is clear, and the cases so hold, that an agreement which requires only that the witness testify fully and truthfully is valid, and indeed such a requirement would seem necessary to prevent the witness from sabotaging the bargain. We believe the requirements of due process, as explained in Medina, are met if the agreement thus permits the witness to testify freely at trial and to respond to any claim that he breached the agreement by showing that the testimony he gave was a full and truthful account. ( Id., at p. 361, citation omitted.) (1c) The plea agreement between Kenneth and the Fresno County District Attorney's office, like the plea bargain in Fields, was conditioned only on Kenneth's truthful and complete testimony in all proceedings against defendant, Hamilton and Barbo. The fact that he, like Gail Fields, may have felt some compulsion to testify in accord with his earlier statement to the police does not, in itself, render the agreement invalid. There is nothing in the record to suggest Kenneth was ever told or led to believe he would receive the benefit of the plea bargain only if his testimony conformed with his October 7 statement. [7] Furthermore, contrary to defendant's contention, Kenneth was not placed under a strong compulsion to testify in a particular fashion merely because he was offered the plea agreement only after his October 7 statement. Surely, law enforcement officials cannot be expected to offer plea agreements only to those individuals who have made no prior statements and expressed no views concerning the events in question. Such a rule would have the practical effect of prohibiting all plea agreements  a result neither required by reason nor compelled by precedent. ( People v. Meza (1981) 116 Cal. App.3d 988, 994 [172 Cal. Rptr. 531].) Defendant alludes to, but does not clearly articulate, two other arguments in support of his contention that the plea agreement was unlawfully coercive. The first argument concerns the terms of the agreement itself. Under the agreement, Kenneth agreed to testify truthfully and completely in all future proceedings against defendant, including both the preliminary hearing and the trial. Thus, once Kenneth testified against defendant at the preliminary hearing, it could be argued he was under a strong compulsion to testify the same way at trial; if he told a different story at defendant's trial he would necessarily have given untruthful testimony in one of the two proceedings and the plea agreement could be terminated by the district attorney's office. In this respect, it could be argued the plea agreement did not permit Kenneth to testify freely at trial and to respond to any claim that he breached the agreement by showing that the testimony he gave was a full and truthful account. ( People v. Fields, supra, 35 Cal.3d at p. 361.) Although there is superficial appeal to this view, ultimately it is unpersuasive. The agreement required only that Kenneth testify truthfully and completely, and it is clear that under the agreement, he was free to testify in any manner at defendant's preliminary hearing. Assuming Kenneth nevertheless lied in his preliminary hearing testimony, any pressure on him to repeat the lie at defendant's trial arose from his own conduct in giving perjured testimony  not from the agreement or any conduct of the district attorney's office. Neither logic nor precedent suggests that an otherwise proper agreement conditioned only on truthful testimony suddenly becomes improper when the witness breaches the agreement by committing perjury. [8] The second argument alluded to is that the district attorney's repudiation of the agreement in response to Kenneth's July 10 letter somehow created an undue compulsion on Kenneth to testify in conformance with his earlier statements. The government's repudiation, however, sent no message to Kenneth and created no compulsion that did not already exist. Even in the absence of the government's repudiation, Kenneth must have known that if he changed his testimony at trial to completely exculpate defendant, the district attorney's office might take the position that the agreement had been violated and that Kenneth could be fully prosecuted. [9] The fact that, because of Kenneth's conduct, the district attorney's office expressed this position before Kenneth's testimony, does not render the agreement or its repudiation unlawfully coercive. Moreover, at the time of the repudiation, Kenneth had already testified at defendant's preliminary hearing and therefore knew that any significant change in his testimony at trial would constitute a violation of the agreement because it would necessarily mean that his testimony on one of the two occasions was untruthful. As we have already explained, this alone does not make the plea agreement unlawful. We note that the situation might be different if, after intercepting the letter, the district attorney had threatened to repudiate the agreement if Kenneth changed his testimony at defendant's trial, or if the district attorney had repudiated the agreement immediately but offered to reinstate it if Kenneth would stand by his original version of the facts. Here, however, the district attorney's office repudiated the agreement immediately and made it clear that as far as it was concerned, there was no agreement, no matter what Kenneth did or testified to in the future. Under these circumstances, the district attorney's repudiation cannot reasonably be viewed as a coercive threat. For the foregoing reasons, we conclude that neither the timing of the plea agreement, nor its terms, nor its repudiation by the government placed Kenneth under such a strong compulsion to testify in a particular fashion as to deny defendant a fair trial. [10]