Opinion ID: 2584893
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Asserted Error in Trial Court's Decision to Deem the Defense Case Completed

Text: Throughout the pretrial proceedings and the trial, defendant vociferously complained that he was not provided with sufficient funds to conduct his defense. This issue came to a head during the guilt phase defense case-in-chief when defendant claimed he was unable to properly serve subpoenas on several witnesses due to the lack of funds to pay his investigator, and, after several continuances, the trial court deemed the defense to have rested, despite defendant's expressed desire to call three additional witnesses. Prior to the trial court's decision to deem the defense case completed, the court had granted defendant's requests for several continuances, and the jury had been dismissed early on several occasions because none or only some of defendant's scheduled witnesses had appeared. After the prosecution's case-in-chief was completed, the court granted an 11-day continuance for defendant to secure the attendance of his witnesses. On Thursday, June 23, 1994, several days after the defense case had begun, the jury was excused without hearing any witnesses because defendant announced that the witness who had appeared has nothing for us and that the other intended witness had not appeared. The next day, the jury was again dismissed because no defense witnesses appeared. On the following Monday, defendant again failed to produce any witnesses. At defendant's request, the trial court excused the jury and continued the trial one extra day, to Wednesday, June 29, 1994, in order to give defendant an opportunity to ensure that his witnesses would appear. On the appointed day, defendant again had no witnesses to present to the jury. In granting yet another continuance, the trial court warned defendant, I have been more patient, I believe, than the law requires. And I believe that I have attempted to give you every opportunity that you need to put on your case the way that you believe it should be put on. [¶] But as I told you the other day, with respect to the jury, that bank account of good will they have with us is running out. So, too, my ability to let you impose on this jury is running out. We're going to have tomorrow ... and we'll hear what witnesses you have tomorrow, sir. [¶] But I do need to tell you that we are approaching the point that I'm going to ask you to call your next witness and, if you tell me you don't have a witness, then I'm going to ask you to rest your case. [¶] You're either going to need to put on the witnesses or we'll continue to the next phase of the case, which would be rebuttal testimony, if there is any, and argument. [¶] And that is not a threat at all, it's just I want you to be aware of what is going to come because I cannot continue to let the jury come in here day after day and tell them, go home, we don't have any witnesses. The trial court asked defendant whether he had [a]ny problem with my telling the jury that there is some closure in the offing and that we do expect that the defense case will probably rest by [the following] Tuesday or so and defendant agreed that was correct. On Tuesday, July 5, 1994, after defendant's alibi witnesses testified, defendant did not have any other witnesses present. The prosecution then offered, out of order, two rebuttal witnesses. The defense stated that it intended to call its four remaining witnesses the following day. The next day, Wednesday, July 6, 1994, defendant again stated that three of his witnesses were not present, due to a delay in securing funds for personal service of the witness subpoenas. Defendant acknowledged that the trial court had been accommodating and stated that the defense would not rest and would instead leave that up to the Court. After the defense investigator testified, the trial court conducted an in-chambers hearing concerning defendant's remaining witnesses. The trial court concluded it would allow one final continuance until 1:30 p.m. the following day for the presentation of defendant's remaining witnesses. The prosecution then called defendant's alibi witnesses as out-of-order rebuttal witnesses. At the conclusion of the proceedings that day, the trial court told the parties, I do want to be clear, and not that I want to dredge up that issue, but I do want everyone to understand where I am coming from with respect to the calling of witnesses tomorrow. [¶] I do anticipate that we will finish with witnesses tomorrow unless it gets to be the case that we have so many witnesses that we run until 5:00 and we need to come back the next day. But absent that possibility, it is my intention to conclude with witnesses tomorrow.... If you have a witness that you want this jury to hear, I expect them to be here tomorrow. On Thursday July 7, 1994, when the trial court asked defendant to produce his next witness and defendant stated that there were no more witnesses availablebut the defense did not rest its casethe court deem[ed] that the defense has rested its case in chief. Defendant contends on appeal that the trial court's decision not to grant further continuances to allow him to attempt to bring in the additional witnesses violated his rights to due process, compulsory process, a reliable verdict, and to present a complete defense, in violation of the state and federal Constitutions. Assuming for the sake of argument that defendant's refusal to rest his case-in-chief preserved his claim that the trial court abused its discretion and violated his constitutional rights by deeming the defense case completed, defendant's contention is nonetheless without merit. (10) Continuances in criminal cases may be granted only for good cause. (§ 1050, subd. (e).) A `trial court has broad discretion to determine whether good cause exists to grant a continuance of the trial. [Citation.] A showing of good cause requires a demonstration that counsel and the defendant have prepared for trial with due diligence.' [Citation.] Such discretion `may not be exercised so as to deprive the defendant or his attorney of a reasonable opportunity to prepare.' [Citation.] `To effectuate the constitutional rights to counsel and to due process of law, an accused must ... have a reasonable opportunity to prepare a defense and respond to the charges.' [Citation.] ( People v. Roldan (2005) 35 Cal.4th 646, 670 [27 Cal.Rptr.3d 360, 110 P.3d 289] ( Roldan ).) In the present case, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in finding that there was no good cause to allow further delay in the completion of the defense case-in-chief. Initially, the trial court could have properly found that the inability to have these witnesses available was caused by defendant's lack of diligence, such as repeatedly attempting service on out-of-state witnesses by mail, despite being advised that such procedures were not proper, and not by factors beyond defendant's control. (See People v. Grant (1988) 45 Cal.3d 829, 844 [248 Cal.Rptr. 444, 755 P.2d 894].) Even if defendant's excuse of insufficient funds were a genuine one, the trial court would not have abused its discretion in finding that the remaining witnesses were not essential to preserving defendant's `reasonable opportunity to prepare a defense and respond to the charges.' ( Roldan, supra, 35 Cal.4th at p. 670; see People v. Jenkins (2000) 22 Cal.4th 900, 1038 [95 Cal.Rptr.2d 377, 997 P.2d 1044] ( Jenkins ) [the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying a continuance when defendant failed to establish that a continuance would be useful in producing specific relevant ... evidence within a reasonable time in light of the burden further delay would place on the jury, other witnesses, and the court].) Contrary to defendant's assertion on appeal that the missing witnesses would have supported his alibi defense, the offers of proof he made at trial showed that these witnesses had nothing to do with establishing defendant's whereabouts, and, further, that their testimony would have been of little assistance to him. According to defendant's offers of proof, the three witnesses' testimony essentially would have bolstered Bessie Hodges's testimony that it was possible that Jamie Bowie was not killed on April 16, 1990, and was seen alive several days later. [23] Such testimony was immaterial, as it was speculative at bestsince none of them could positively testify that Bowie was alive after April 16and, in fact, the intended import of their proposed testimony was overwhelmingly contradicted by other evidence: that Bowie had no apparent reason not to return to Los Angeles on April 16, but rather had a significant reason to do so (her new job starting the next day); that while alive she had faithfully communicated with her family and friends, but never talked with any of them after April 16; that her ATM card was unsuccessfully used three times in rapid succession the next morning in the Los Angeles area; that her apartment was burglarized with no sign of forced entry that same morning; that defendant sold her car in Fresno on April 18; and, of course, defendant's statements to the police and Hilda's testimony that Bowie was killed on April 16. The notion that Bowie was not killed on that day was simply preposterous, and the trial court's decision not to further delay the trial so defendant could attempt to bring in three witnesses who, judging from defendant's offers of proof, would not have provided remotely convincing evidence to the contrary was not an abuse of discretion. (See People v. Howard (1992) 1 Cal.4th 1132, 1171 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 268, 824 P.2d 1315] [in order to justify a continuance to obtain witness testimony, defendant must show that the expected testimony was material and not cumulative ...].) [24] Because we conclude the trial court acted within its broad discretion in denying a continuance, defendant's constitutional claims are foreclosed. ( Jenkins, supra, 22 Cal.4th at pp. 1039-1040.)