Opinion ID: 2606162
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Vexatious Litigation

Text: Application of collateral estoppel in this case would prevent petitioner from being subjected to consecutive proceedings raising the same factual allegations. To this extent, as noted above, it would eliminate repetitive litigation. (9) The essence of vexatiousness, however, is not mere repetition. Rather, it is harassment through baseless or unjustified litigation. (See, e.g., Taylor, supra, 12 Cal.3d at p. 695 [policy underlying collateral estoppel is prevention of harassment through vexatious litigation].) Petitioner does not assert that the criminal proceedings in this case are intended to harass. The public has a legitimate expectation that a person once found guilty of a crime may both be held to the terms of his probation and (if deemed appropriate by the prosecution) tried anew for any offenses alleged to have been committed during the probationary period. For this reason, it is neither vexatious nor unfair for a probationer to be subjected to both a revocation hearing and a criminal trial. The People's failure to prevail at the revocation hearing does not alone transform the otherwise permissible subsequent trial into harassment. We have previously adopted evidentiary rules that significantly protect probationers from prejudice caused by the juxtaposition of revocation hearings and criminal trials. Most important, the probationer's testimony at the revocation hearing is inadmissible at a subsequent criminal trial. ( Coleman, supra, 13 Cal.3d 867; People v. Weaver (1985) 39 Cal.3d 654, 659 [217 Cal. Rptr. 245, 703 P.2d 1139] [ Coleman exclusionary rule survives adoption of Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (d)].) This safeguard guarantees the probationer the ability to present a full case at the hearing without running the risk of prejudicing his defense at a subsequent trial. (1e) As such, the trial will not be vexatious, even if it requires determination of the same issue litigated at the hearing. Protection of defendants faced with both revocation and prosecution does not warrant application of collateral estoppel in this case.