Opinion ID: 2625366
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Court's Explanations and Instructions to the Jury

Text: Defendant argues the trial court violated his Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process and a fair trial by giving the jury explanations and instructions which unduly favored the prosecution. Defendant complains that the court erred by telling the jury (1) Armenta did not testify because he could not be located, (2) the prosecutor was not to blame for the loss of certain missing physical evidence, and (3) defendant Martinez was also known as Jose Serrano Reyna. As will appear, defendant failed to make proper objection to, or request clarification of, these various statements. Moreover, whether viewed separately or together, these matters were far too minor to constitute prejudicial error. (See People v. Hedgecock (1990) 51 Cal.3d 395, 407, 272 Cal.Rptr. 803, 795 P.2d 1260 [due process violation for court to remove element of offense from jury's consideration]; People v. Santana (2000) 80 Cal.App.4th 1194, 1207, 96 Cal.Rptr.2d 158.)
Although Armenta testified for the People at defendant's preliminary examination, he returned to Mexico before trial and could neither be compelled to appear nor located despite the prosecutor's reasonable diligence to find him. Accordingly, the People moved to introduce Armenta's earlier preliminary examination testimony. Before admitting it, the court, without defense objection, explained to the jury that Armenta was unavailable to testify because he could not be located. Defendant now asserts the court's explanation was false in that the true reason Armenta was unavailable was because he was in Mexico beyond the court's process and refused to voluntarily testify for the People. Defendant points to testimony elicited at a preliminary hearing held on the question of the prosecutor's due diligence and showing that at one point the People were able to contact Armenta by phone but he refused to return to testify. Defendant asserts that the court's assertedly false statement as to the inability to locate Armenta impermissibly bolstered the credibility of Armenta's preliminary hearing testimony. The Attorney General notes that the court's explanation was fully supported by a later federal Justice Department letter to the effect that Armenta indeed could not be located. In any event, we fail to see how the court's explanation to the jury could possibly bear on or enhance the credibility of Armenta's preliminary hearing testimony. If defendant believed otherwise, he should have objected and proposed a correction or clarification. Clearly, he waived the point by not objecting on this ground. (E.g., People v. Hawkins (1995) 10 Cal.4th 920, 945, 42 Cal.Rptr.2d 636, 897 P.2d 574.)
Evidently, the prosecutor misplaced an envelope containing some glass fragments found at the Grove Street crime scene. This evidence had been admitted at Camacho's separate trial, but could not be located by the time defendant was tried. Rather than rule evidence of these fragments inadmissible as defendant requested, the court instead explained to the jury that, following an officer's testimony regarding the fragments found on Grove Street, an envelope containing some fragments was lost, possibly by the court clerk. Although defendant had earlier argued against admitting any evidence of these fragments, he failed to object to the court's explanation to the jury, and likewise sought no clarification. Defendant now argues the court's foregoing explanatory statement was factually inaccurate, in that the prosecutor must be charged with misplacing the envelope, there being no evidence that court personnel were responsible. Defendant asserts the court's inaccurate statement impermissibly bolstered the prosecution's credibility, relieved the prosecution of any need to explain why it could not show the jury pieces of physical evidence, and thereby violated defendant's constitutional rights. Defendant does not explain the significance of the missing evidence to the defense, and we fail to see how the court's explanation to the jury could possibly bear on or enhance the prosecution's credibility. Again, if defendant believed otherwise, he should have objected and proposed a correction or clarification. Clearly, he waived the point by not objecting.
The trial evidence showed that defendant often identified himself as Jose Serrano Reyna. He used that alias when he purchased the gun used to shoot victim Castillo as well as during other gun purchases, and he identified himself by that name to various officers and other persons. Defendant complains that whatever factual dispute might have existed on the alias issue was obliterated by the court's frequent recitation, both in reading the information to the jury, and in the verdict forms themselves, that defendant Omar Fuentes Martinez was also known as Jose Serrano Reyna. The Attorney General contends that because defendant never objected to these frequent recitations, he thereby waived the point. Although defendant argues that objections to instructions and verdict forms were unnecessary (see § 1259), he points to no contested issue whatever regarding his using an aliasthe record indicates the evidence was uncontradicted on the matter. We see no prejudicial error in the court's recitations.