Opinion ID: 2570148
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Exclusion of a Toxicology Report

Text: Defendant contends the court improperly excluded a toxicology report showing that murder victims Randall Paul and Richard Bodine had high levels of methamphetamine in their systems. [18] During an in limine hearing at the guilt phase, the prosecutor sought to exclude any reference to the report. Defense counsel argued that the evidence would be relevant primarily to his penalty phase arguments, though he also wanted to use it to impeach the testimony of the surviving shooting victim, Jennifer Widmer. On appeal, defendant's claim of error also goes principally to its asserted effect on the jury's penalty phase determination. The court ruled that the methamphetamine levels found in the victims were generally irrelevant to any guilt or penalty phase issues, with one possible exception. The court observed that defense counsel was entitled to explore whether Widmer had been using drugs on the night of the crimes, and that if she denied doing so the methamphetamine use by Paul, who was Widmer's friend, might be admissible for purposes of impeachment. Widmer testified that she had been on her way home from a friend's house when she stopped at the store to visit Paul. She was only there for a few minutes before defendant arrived. She did not notice the plate containing a white powder that appeared in a crime scene photograph, [19] nor did she notice any indications that Paul was under the influence of drugs. Widmer also said she herself was not under the influence. When defense counsel began to pursue the issue of Paul's drug use, the court sustained the prosecutor's objections. After hearing argument outside the presence of the jury, the court ruled that Paul's methamphetamine level was not relevant impeachment evidence, in light of the nature of Widmer's testimony. Defendant contends this evidence was admissible as a circumstance of the crime under section 190.3, factor (a), because methamphetamine use was listed on the autopsy report as an ancillary cause of death. Defendant is incorrect. The autopsy report notes methamphetamine abuse as a diagnosis but identifies multiple gunshot wounds as the sole cause of death. Defendant also argues that the evidence of methamphetamine abuse was relevant to rebut the prosecution's attempts to diminish any suggestion of drug use by the victims. He fails to explain the relevance of the victims' drug use. It had no apparent impact on their behavior with respect to defendant's actions. Defendant suggests the evidence would have affected the credibility of both Widmer and Detective Duffy (see fn. 19, ante ). However, it is not clear how the test results would have undermined Duffy's testimony that he did not know if the powder was dope. As to Widmer's credibility, given her testimony that she arrived at the store only two or three minutes before defendant appeared, her opportunity to observe Paul using drugs was extremely limited. Therefore, the impeachment value of the toxicology report was negligible, at best. (12) Finally, defendant contends the report was admissible to rebut victim impact evidence. The prosecution, however, presented no victim impact evidence. While the prosecutor did ask the jury during argument to remember the victims and their families in its penalty deliberations, this did not give defendant the right to present evidence that the victims had been using drugs when they were murdered. `The court is not required to admit evidence that merely makes the victim of a crime look bad.' ( People v. Kelly (1992) 1 Cal.4th 495, 523 [3 Cal.Rptr.2d 677, 822 P.2d 385].) Thus, the trial court did not abuse its broad discretion in concluding that the evidence lacked probative value. . . . ( People v. Stitely (2005) 35 Cal.4th 514, 548 [26 Cal.Rptr.3d 1, 108 P.3d 182].)