Opinion ID: 844218
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Photograph of the Mock Shotgun

Text: In conjunction with Deputy Lyons's testimony concerning the information he and the other members of the gang unit received regarding the Young Crowd gang at the briefing prior to the killing of Deputy Blair, the prosecutor presented six pictures of the pickup truck that had been painted to resemble a sheriff's department patrol vehicle, and on which various confrontational statements directed at the sheriff's department had been written. Defendant contends on appeal that a photograph of the interior of the truck, which includes what appears to be a handmade representation of a shotgun, and Deputy Lyons's testimony concerning that photograph, should not have been admitted because Deputy Lyons testified that he was not shown that photograph at the briefing. Defendant did not object to the admission of the photograph or the testimony. His assertion to the contrary on appeal mischaracterizes the record. Although the prosecutor at one point stated he was not offering the testimony for the truth of the matter asserted at this point in time, the trial court twice suggested that defense counsel might have made a tactical decision to allow the testimony to show state of mind as to Blair as he went out (that is, that he might have been in a heightened emotional state) and therefore the defense may want all of that. Defense counsel agreed, stating, Pretty much. When Deputy Lyons's testimony continued the following day after the evening recess, there was no other discussion concerning the prosecution's grounds for proffering the photographs and Deputy Lyons's testimony, or any objections by defendant to the admission of this evidence. Indeed, another witness, Deputy Roberts, also testified without defense objectionthat he was shown the photographs, including the one with the mock shotgun, at a briefing approximately one week before Deputy Blair was shot. Accordingly, defendant has forfeited his appellate claim. In any event, even if defendant had preserved the claim, any error was harmless. The photograph of the mock shotgun inside the truck did not, by itself, facilitate[] the prosecutor's promotion of the truck as signifying a deadly threat to the deputies, as defendant urges. Rather, the photographs of the truck Deputy Lyons testified he did see at the briefing (which included various disparaging and profane statements regarding the sheriff's department and the statement that the Crowd's gonna get you, as well as what appeared to be numerous bullet holes in the truck's body) effectively supported the prosecutor's argument that members of Young Crowd were angry with and hated the sheriff's deputies. Contrary to defendant's arguments, even if the photograph of the mock shotgun had not been admitted, there is neither a reasonable probability that the jury would have reached a different verdict at the guilt phase, nor a reasonable possibility that it would have reached a different penalty verdict (see People v. Brown (1988) 46 Cal.3d 432, 448 [250 Cal.Rptr. 604, 758 P.2d 1135]).