Opinion ID: 1203248
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Failure to Report Sidebar Conferences

Text: (12a) The trial court refused to order that every bench conference between the court and counsel be reported. Thus, 133 sidebar conferences were not reported. Defendant argues that the court's action violated his right to due process, to effective assistance of counsel, and to a fair and reliable review of the guilt and penalty determinations as guaranteed by article I, sections 7, 15, 16 and 17 of the California Constitution and by the Fifth, Sixth, Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. He also claims the court's ruling violated Code of Civil Procedure section 269 and Penal Code section 190.9. Respondent counters that the law applicable to defendant's 1984 trial did not require the reporting of sidebar conferences, and maintains that in any case, there was no material omission in the record. The record reflects that during the first day of testimony at the guilt phase of trial, counsel for codefendant Brown moved that all sidebar conferences be reported, complaining that he would forget any objection not recorded at sidebar. After several discussions of the point, the court ruled: [I]t is the court's ruling that I will accept legal objections from counsel. I urge counsel not to make speaking objections, make the objections in legal terms. And when the court believes that any side bar conferences are appropriate, we will have side bar conferences. [ถ] In lieu of that, we will not have side bar conferences. I have said that before. I allow them at the convenience and to aid the attorneys, but we are not going to take the reporter around every five minutes to set up a side bar conference during this trial. It is interesting to note that immediately thereafter, having reviewed the daily transcript from the day before, Brown's attorney was permitted to clarify an objection he felt was not fully reflected in the transcript. The matter was raised for the last time in the motions for new trial. Defendant's claim that the court abused its discretion rests on Code of Civil Procedure section 269 and on Penal Code section 190.9. Code of Civil Procedure section 269 provided at the time of defendant's trial: The official reporter ... must ... take down in shorthand all the testimony, the objections made, the rulings of the court, the exceptions taken, all arraignments, pleas, and sentences of defendants in criminal cases, the arguments of the prosecuting attorney to the jury, and all statements made and oral instructions given by the judge.... [5] Effective in 1985, the year after defendant's trial, section 190.9 was added to the Penal Code, requiring that in a case in which a death sentence may be imposed  all proceedings conducted after the effective date of this section in the justice, municipal, and superior courts, including proceedings in chambers, shall be conducted on the record with a court reporter present. (Italics added.) [6] Defendant's claim that the section merely restated existing law is meritless; the express language making the statute prospective only belies the suggestion. In reaching this conclusion we rely also on the explanation of the Legislative Counsel accompanying the bill (Stats. 1984, ch. 1422, ง 2, p. 4994) that while existing law required the reporting of testimony and other specified statements, this section would require that all proceedings be conducted on the record, thereby imposing new costs on local government. (13)(See fn. 7.), (12b) Although sidebar and chambers discussions have long been a permissible part of the record on appeal (see Lipka v. Lipka (1963) 60 Cal.2d 472, 480-481 [35 Cal. Rptr. 71, 386 P.2d 671] [equivalent of settled statement of chambers discussion proper part of record on appeal]; see also People v. Holloway (1990) 50 Cal.3d 1098, 1115-1116 [269 Cal. Rptr. 530, 790 P.2d 1327]), we have found no case, nor has defendant cited any, requiring that in every instance they must be reported. Code of Civil Procedure section 269, whether in its current form or that applicable at the time of defendant's trial, is not explicit on the point. [7] However, we need not determine whether the trial court erred under Code of Civil Procedure section 269, since it is so patently clear that any abuse of discretion in refusing to order the sidebar conferences reported has not prejudiced defendant, and has not impeded his ability to seek meaningful appellate review. (14) As we said in a recent capital case in which defendant complained that five hours of chambers argument over a suppression motion was not reported: Section 1181, subdivision 9 [of the Penal Code] authorizes a reviewing court to order a new trial `because of the loss or destruction, in whole or in substantial part' of the reporter's notes. `The test is whether in light of all the circumstances it appears that the lost portion is substantial in that it affects the ability of the reviewing court to conduct a meaningful review and the ability of the defendant to properly perfect his appeal.' ( People v. Holloway, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 1116, quoting People v. Morales (1979) 88 Cal. App.3d 259, 267 [151 Cal. Rptr. 610].) We concluded that a settled statement provided an adequate substitute for the missing transcript. ( People v. Holloway, supra, 50 Cal.3d at p. 1116.) (12c) This is obviously not a case like those defendant cites in which the record of the trial as a whole is missing or unavailable. (See, e.g., People v. Jones (1981) 125 Cal. App.3d 298 [178 Cal. Rptr. 44] [notes of whole trial destroyed]; In re Ray O. (1979) 97 Cal. App.3d 136, 138-139 [158 Cal. Rptr. 550] revd. on other grounds 213 Cal. App.3d 701, 708 [no reporter's transcript of juvenile disposition hearing].) This is not a case in which a large or crucial portion of the record is missing (see, e.g., In re Steven B. (1979) 25 Cal.3d 1 [157 Cal. Rptr. 510, 598 P.2d 480] [stenographic notes for half of juvenile jurisdictional hearing destroyed]; People v. Apalatequi (1978) 82 Cal. App.3d 970, 973 [147 Cal. Rptr. 473] [reporter's notes of arguments of counsel lost; settled statement inadequate to raise prosecutorial misconduct argument]), or in which a crucial item of evidence is not available on appeal (compare In re Roderick S. (1981) 125 Cal. App.3d 48 [177 Cal. Rptr. 800] [loss of knife in possession of weapon case necessitates reversal] with People v. Curry (1985) 165 Cal. App.3d 349, 353-354 [211 Cal. Rptr. 590] [affirmance in face of loss of part of officer's probable cause statement to magistrate]). Rather, it is one in which only an inconsequential portion of the proceedings was not transcribed and has not been reconstructed. (Compare, e.g., People v. Moore (1988) 201 Cal. App.3d 51, 56 [248 Cal. Rptr. 31] [omission of defense counsel's closing arguments inconsequential].) We are convinced that no `substantial' portion of the record is missing in this case. The record in this appeal consists of 56 volumes of reporter's transcripts, covering 7,557 pages, 4 volumes of clerk's transcripts, covering 1,208 pages, as well as augmented clerk's and reporter's transcripts of several volumes. We have before us the reporter's transcript of the preliminary hearing, of hearings on all the pretrial motions, of voir dire, of the opening and closing arguments of the prosecutor and both defense counsel, of the testimony of every witness, and of the trial court's every word to the jury, including, of course, jury instructions. We have all the parties' pleadings and written motions, as well as the reporter's transcript of the hearing on defendant's motion for new trial, the application for modification of sentence, and the formal sentencing. For the purpose of appeal, a settled statement was prepared, supplying the recollection of the parties and the court of the content of the unreported sidebar discussions. The parties were able to fully settle the record as to 66 sidebar discussions; as to 40 more, they recalled at least part of the discussion, and as to 27 discussions, no settled statement is provided. Of the 133 unreported sidebar discussions, 58 took place during jury selection and before the taking of testimony. To put the matter in perspective, we note that the trial extended over 53 court days. Most importantly, the trial court told counsel it was appropriate to put their objections on the record; it was only their sidebar arguments the court refused to order reported in every instance. Many sidebar conferences were in fact reported. Counsel followed the court's advice; the record bristles with hundreds of evidentiary and other objections, and the court's rulings thereon. With respect to every issue raised on appeal, we have found the record sufficient to permit review. It is in this context that we must find that any abuse of discretion, assuming it existed, was not prejudicial, because the record is clearly adequate for meaningful appellate review. Defendant admits that he did settle the record regarding most of the 133 unreported bench conferences, but he claims that there remain disputes over several conferences involving his motion to sever his trial from that of the codefendants, voir dire, juror misconduct, admission of testimony and statements of codefendant Corona, certain hearsay objections, guilt phase instructions, prosecutorial misconduct, notice of evidence in aggravation at the penalty trial, and admission of improper evidence in aggravation. He claims that in some instances, an objection vital to preservation of an issue on appeal is not recorded because of the trial court's decision not to order the transcription of bench conferences. As it appears in our discussion of each of these issues, however, we have found the record adequate to permit our review of each claim. Defendant asserts a constitutional basis for his claim, arguing that substantial defects or omissions in a trial record impair a defendant's Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel on appeal. He also argues that an effective appeal is impossible without an adequate record, and that an inadequate record is fundamentally incompatible with the Eighth Amendment and its requirement that there be a reliable determination whether death is the appropriate penalty. (15) Defendant argues that the burden is on the People to demonstrate that the unreported proceedings are immaterial, citing March v. Municipal Court (1972) 7 Cal.3d 422, 428 [102 Cal. Rptr. 597, 498 P.2d 437, 66 A.L.R.3d 945], and Draper v. Washington (1963) 372 U.S. 487, 499 [9 L.Ed.2d 899, 907, 83 S.Ct. 774]. However, those cases involved invidious discrimination in the preparation of transcripts on appeal. These cases were designed to vindicate the principle that indigents must be afforded as adequate and effective appellate review as that given appellants with funds.... ( Draper v. Washington, supra, at p. 496 [9 L.Ed.2d at p. 906].) The high court as well as this court have said that when the grounds for appeal suggest a colorable need for a transcript of the proceedings, the burden is on the state to show that a partial transcript or some alternative method will provide as effective an appeal as is available to the wealthier defendant who can pay for the transcript. (See Mayer v. Chicago (1971) 404 U.S. 189, 195 [30 L.Ed.2d 372, 378-379, 92 S.Ct. 410]; March v. Municipal Court, supra, 7 Cal.3d at pp. 427-428.) Here there is no invidious discrimination, and the principles of these cases are inapplicable. To the extent they are instructive because they describe the importance of an adequate record on appeal, defendant misstates the burden on the prosecutor, which is not to show that any omission is immaterial, as defendant claims, but to show that the transcript is sufficient to assure adequate appellate review. [8] (12d) Defendant's constitutional claims founder on our rejection of his premise that the omissions in the record are substantial. [9] They are not, even if we place the burden of proof on the People on this point as he would have us do. Rather, as we have explained, as to every issue raised on appeal, we have found the record perfectly adequate for the purpose of review; in an excess of caution, we have in one instance assumed that an objection was preserved in an unreported sidebar conference, but in every other instance we have been able to decide the issues raised without resorting to any such presumption. Finally, our review of the record convinces us that defendant's claim that there might be issues he could have raised if he had seen all the sidebar conferences transcribed is pure speculation. Therefore we must reject his claim as a matter both of federal constitutional law and state law.