Opinion ID: 2623595
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Marlow: Admissibility of Opinions; Adequacy of Limiting Instruction

Text: Marlow contends the trial court erred in permitting the jury to consider Dr. Walker's opinion that Coffman was a battered woman in arriving at its verdict against him and in failing to instruct, sua sponte, that such opinion was inadmissible as to him. Marlow notes the trial court had instructed the jury, during Coffman's testimony, that all testimony about her relationship with Marlow that was not directly related to the offenses against Novis was admissible only with respect to Coffman's state of mind. When Dr. Walker took the stand, the trial court instructed the jury that the evidence Walker had taken into account in forming her opinion that Coffman was a battered woman was hearsay as to Marlow and therefore inadmissible against him. Marlow complains, however, that the court did not similarly restrict the admissibility of Dr. Walker's opinions, leaving the jury to use those opinions in deciding his guilt or innocence. Walker's opinions, he argues, as to him essentially constituted bad character evidence, which was inadmissible because he had proffered no favorable character evidence. (See Evid.Code, §§ 1101, 1102.) We disagree. Marlow points to nothing in the court's instructions expressly or impliedly permitting the use of Dr. Walker's opinions against him. Even in the absence of a contrary instruction, the court repeatedly instructed the jury that Coffman's evidence pertaining to defendants' relationship that was not directly related to the Novis offenses was admissible only as to Coffman's state of mind. Therefore, that the jury employed Dr. Walker's opinions as a form of bad character evidence against Marlow is not reasonably probable. ( People v. Watson, supra, 46 Cal.2d at p. 836, 299 P.2d 243.) Any possible inadequacy in the court's instructions in this regard, moreover, appears harmless in light of other instructions the jury received, cautioning it as to the limited purpose for which evidence of battered woman syndrome was admitted, that the facts underlying hypothetical questions asked expert witnesses were not necessarily true, and that the jury could disregard any expert opinion it found unreasonable. (CALJIC Nos. 2.09, 2.80, 2.82 and 3.32.) Marlow further contends the admission of Dr. Walker's opinion that Coffman was credible in her accusations against him, and the trial court's failure specifically to instruct the jury that expert testimony is inadmissible to establish credibility, violated his rights to due process of law and a reliable penalty determination as guaranteed by the federal Constitution. Marlow enumerates some 10 instances in which he asserts Dr. Walker testified that, in her professional opinion, Coffman was truthful. [24] Trial counsel failed to object to or move to strike all but one of these instances, however, and as to the remaining instance the objection was on the ground of lack of foundation rather than that the witness was impermissibly rendering an opinion as to Coffman's credibility. [25] Thus, Marlow forfeited the claim he now seeks to raise on appeal. (Evid.Code, § 353, subd. (a); People v. Holt (1997) 15 Cal.4th 619, 666, 63 Cal.Rptr.2d 782, 937 P.2d 213.) Because, however, he asserts counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to preserve the point, we address its substance. On the merits, the challenged opinion that Coffman was credible should have been excluded on a proper objection. The general rule is that an expert may not give an opinion whether a witness is telling the truth, for the determination of credibility is not a subject sufficiently beyond common experience that the expert's opinion would assist the trier of fact; in other words, the jury generally is as well equipped as the expert to discern whether a witness is being truthful. (Evid.Code, § 801, subd. (a); see People v. Cole (1956) 47 Cal.2d 99, 103, 301 P.2d 854.) Thus, we have held that a psychological expert may not testify about rape trauma syndrome, a condition analogous to battered woman syndrome, in order to prove that a rape actually occurred, although such testimony is admissible to rehabilitate the credibility of the complaining witness against a suggestion that her behavior after the assault â such as a delay in reporting it â was inconsistent with her claim of having been raped. ( People v. Bledsoe (1984) 36 Cal.3d 236, 247-248, 251, 203 Cal.Rptr. 450, 681 P.2d 291; see also People v. McAlpin (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1289, 1300, 283 Cal.Rptr. 382, 812 P.2d 563 [expert testimony pertaining to failure of parent of child molestation victim to report abuse].) On a number of occasions in the present case, rather than merely explaining, with reference to her expert knowledge, certain aspects of Coffman's behavior that a layperson might find irreconcilable with her claim to have been battered, Dr. Walker testified she believed Coffman's claims of abuse and domination by Marlow were true. [26] To this extent, a timely and specific objection probably should have been sustained. Assuming error in the admission of Dr. Walker's opinions concerning Coffman's credibility, we nevertheless conclude Marlow did not suffer prejudice. Marlow, of course, was not charged with any offense against Coffman, nor was Dr. Walker's testimony offered to vouch for the credibility of Coffman's testimony regarding Marlow's role in the offenses against Corinna Novis; rather, her testimony was offered to support Coffman's defense that, by virtue of the coercion exerted by Marlow's physical and psychological abuse, as reflected in the diagnosis of battered woman syndrome, she lacked the intent to kill. The trial court, moreover, instructed the jury during Dr. Walker's direct testimony that it could consider the evidence concerning battered woman syndrome only in evaluating Coffman's defense, not against Marlow. We presume the jury followed this instruction. (See People v. Sanchez (1995) 12 Cal.4th 1, 79, 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 843, 906 P.2d 1129 [jury presumed to follow instruction pertaining to sentencing factors].) We see no reasonable likelihood the jury would have understood the instruction to preclude it from considering against Marlow only the facts underlying Dr. Walker's opinion, not the opinion itself. ( People v. Cain (1995) 10 Cal.4th 1, 48, 40 Cal.Rptr.2d 481, 892 P.2d 1224.) For these reasons, and because the jury was instructed with CALJIC No. 3.32, cautioning that evidence of battered woman syndrome could be considered only for the limited purpose of showing Coffman's mental state, we reject Marlow's additional contention that Dr. Walker's opinion that Coffman was a battered woman and incapable of forming the intent to kill was improper bad character evidence against Marlow. (See Evid.Code, § 1101, subd. (a).) The jury, moreover, also received the standard instructions that it was not bound by an expert's opinion and could disregard any opinion found to be unreasonable, and that it was the sole judge of the credibility of a witness and the weight to be accorded his or her testimony. (CALJIC Nos. 2.80, 2.20.) Marlow acknowledges that a trial court generally has no sua sponte duty to give an instruction limiting the purpose for which evidence is received (see People v. Collie (1981) 30 Cal.3d 43, 64, 177 Cal.Rptr. 458, 634 P.2d 534); he fails to persuade us to hold to the contrary with respect to an instruction that Dr. Walker's opinion should not be used in assessing Coffman's credibility. In sum, despite the admission into evidence of Dr. Walker's opinion concerning Coffman's credibility, reversal is not required. Marlow's related claim of ineffective assistance of counsel and his derivative claims of federal constitutional error likewise must fail.