Opinion ID: 2545785
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Defendant's Tape-recorded Statement

Text: After defendant presented evidence that he was suffering from PTSD when he killed the two young girls, Teddy and Chrissy, the prosecutor offered into evidence a tape recording of the interrogation of defendant by San Bernardino County Sheriffs detectives on the night of the murders. Defendant said nothing inculpatory during the questioning, but he made some statements that were demonstrably false. Defendant objected to the recording, asserting that the prosecutor intended to use it only to show that he had lied during the interrogation. The prosecutor responded that the recording was admissible to show that defendant was not mentally impaired by PTSD on the night of the killings. The trial court overruled the objection. During closing argument, the prosecutor discussed defendant's lies in the recording. Defendant contends the trial court admitted the recording solely for the limited purpose for which it was offered, and the prosecutor committed misconduct by using it for a different purpose in closing argument: to show that defendant had a bad character because he was a liar. Because defendant did not at trial object to the prosecutor's argument, he is barred now from raising the issue. ( People v. Price, supra, 1 Cal.4th at p. 440, 3 Cal.Rptr.2d 106, 821 P.2d 610.) In any event, an objection would have been groundless. As is apparent from the discussion in the preceding paragraph, the trial court did not admit the tape-recorded statements for a limited purpose; therefore, the prosecutor could use them in closing argument for any legally permissible purpose, as he did here. The prosecutor mentioned defendant's lies in the statement twice, each time for a permissible purpose: first, as evidence that defendant was callous and cold-blooded in his attitude towards the murders shortly after he committed them, casually asking the investigating officers for coffee while lying to them about his knowledge of the young girls' whereabouts; second, as a basis for arguing that defendant had falsely answered questions in the MMPI test on which Dr. Williams relied in concluding that defendant was suffering from PTSD. There was no prosecutorial misconduct.