Opinion ID: 2571564
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Admission of Hearsay Evidence of Plot to Kidnap Bonilla's Sister

Text: Bonilla contends the trial court erroneously permitted inadmissible hearsay to remain in the record during the penalty phase and this error rendered his trial fundamentally unfair in violation of his federal due process rights. (U.S. Const., 5th & 14th Amends.) The error was harmless and did not render his trial fundamentally unfair. Shelton McDaniels, Bonilla's coconspirator, testified extensively about the plot to kidnap Susan Harris and extort money from her, money that would then be used to pay for killing Keyes. During that testimony, McDaniels described the growing frustration another conspirator, Michael Greenwood (Mut), had with Bonilla's failure to come up with additional money to pay for kidnapping Susan Harris. He testified, Well, Mut felt like Steve [Bonilla] was lying to him about not being able to come up with the money because he had told him that his mom's [sic ] had money tied up in ... CD's and something else that the money was tied up in, but he couldn't access it because she was the only one that could get it or something like this. And she was reluctant as it was to give him the money. But Mut was ready to put the pressure on him and the plan he came up with was going and kidnapping Steve's sister. (Italics added.) Bonilla objected, arguing the statement was inadmissible hearsay outside the scope of the coconspirator exception because it related to matters outside the scope of the conspiracy. (See Evid.Code, ง 1223.) The trial court sustained Bonilla's objection at an in-chambers conference but, once back on the record before the jury, did not advise the jury the objection had been sustained, strike the testimony, or direct the jury to disregard it. The People do not defend either the admissibility of the testimony or the trial court's failure to cure its admission. However, the error was manifestly harmless. There is no reasonable probability exclusion of the testimony about a third party's inchoate criminal designs would have made a difference. ( People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836, 299 P.2d 243.) The real issue at the penalty phase was how to weigh the circumstances of the crime, its impact on the victims, and Bonilla's pattern of conspiring to kill those with whom he disagreed against his family's pleas for mercy and compassion. It is inconceivable this one statement on a tangential matter in a four-month trial tipped the balance. Indeed, Bonilla essentially concedes as much, acknowledging that standing alone, erroneous admission of evidence of the plot to kidnap Bonilla's sister and to extort money from his mother may not have tipped the balance in favor of death. Bonilla argues this state law error violated his federal due process rights. Contrary to the People's contention, the argument was preserved by Bonilla's trial objection on state law grounds. ( People v. Partida, supra, 37 Cal.4th at pp. 435-437, 35 Cal.Rptr.3d 644, 122 P.3d 765.) However, it is meritless. In the context of the entire penalty phase, this one line of hearsay was inconsequential and did not render Bonilla's trial fundamentally unfair. (See id. at p. 439, 35 Cal.Rptr.3d 644, 122 P.3d 765 [the admission of evidence, even if erroneous under state law, results in a due process violation only if it makes the trial fundamentally unfair]. )