Opinion ID: 2636938
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denial of cross-examination re Baros's therapy.

Text: Defendant contends error occurred when, during the defense crossexamination of Baros before the jury, the court sustained the prosecutor's relevancy objection to counsel's question whether Baros had ever been in therapy. (See fn. 9, ante. ) By cutting off this line of inquiry, defendant insists, the court deprived the jury of crucial information about her mental condition as it bore on her credibility. According to defendant, this evidence included the information, disclosed by Baros in the competence hearing, that the authorities had recently taken away her children on suspicion of sexual abuse; that these events resulted in emotional problems, psychiatric therapy, and a diagnosis of mental anguish; and that she was taking medications for her emotional condition. Defendant asserts the court's ruling violated the requirement that all relevant evidence be admitted (Cal. Const., art. I, ง 28, subd. (d)) as well as his rights to due process, a fair trial, confrontation of witnesses, and a reliable penalty determination under the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Defendant also claims his counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to pursue the matter after the initial objection was sustained. The contention lacks merit. Defendant fails to demonstrate the relevance of the excluded information to Baros's credibility about the Mackey murder. It is a fact of modern life that many people experience emotional problems, undergo therapy, and take medications for their conditions. A person's credibility is not in question merely because he or she is receiving treatment for a mental health problem. ( People v. Pack (1988) 201 Cal.App.3d 679, 686, 248 Cal.Rptr. 240.) Even if examination of a witness about treatment for mental illness might sometimes be relevant, here evidence that Baros had received therapy would have added little to the specific evidence, largely undisputed, that she had significant fantasies. Defense counsel was allowed to cross-examine Baros fully about the specific delusions that might impair the accuracy of her testimony. Nothing more was necessary. Hence, the trial court acted properly in sustaining a relevancy objection when defense counsel asked Baros whether she had ever been in therapy. For similar reasons, counsel was not ineffective for dropping the matter after the initial objection was sustained.