Opinion ID: 1258767
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Asserted Error in Admitting Evidence of Brian J. Incident

Text: As indicated previously, one of the other crimes sought to be proved by the prosecution involved the molestation and assault on Brian J. At the foundational hearing held prior to trial, Brian testified concerning the incident, including the fact that he had identified his assailant at a police lineup. Brian was not asked, however, whether defendant was the man he identified. Thereafter, at trial, the prosecutor elicited substantially the same information from Brian, again without eliciting whether defendant was the man he identified. The prosecutor did ask Brian to describe the lineup identification procedure, and showed Brian a photograph of a lineup displaying five adults each bearing numbers from one to five. Brian testified without equivocation that number three was his assailant. Although he was not asked whether the third man in the photograph was the defendant, a previous witness, Peggy Douderman, had positively identified defendant as the person depicted as number three in that same photograph (which was admitted into evidence). (4) Defendant now contends that Brian failed properly to identify defendant as the person who molested him. He observes that both the foundational hearing and the trial testimony were insufficient in this regard. He further notes that, according to the record, the photograph from which Brian identified his assailant was a photograph of a lineup different from the one viewed by Brian. (The photo actually depicted the lineup assembled for the Rynetta C. incident; defendant was a participant in both lineups.) We agree with the People's response that witness Douderman's positive identification of defendant furnished the missing link in Brian's testimony, regardless which lineup the photograph in question was really depicting. In essence, Brian selected a man in a photograph as his assailant, and Ms. Douderman confirmed that the man depicted therein was in fact defendant. Moreover, any uncertainty in the matter was attributable to defendant's failure to object, or move to strike, once it became apparent that the People did not tie him more closely to the incident. A motion to strike, accompanied by an appropriate admonition or instruction, would have minimized any damage arising from Brian's testimony. As the People note, we have stated that failure to object to evidence offered following a foundational hearing normally constitutes a waiver. ( People v. Karis, supra, 46 Cal.3d at pp. 634-635, fn. 16.) We also have indicated that no waiver occurs where the foundational hearing and trial occur, as here, contemporaneously ( ibid. ). Yet, in the present case, defendant failed to raise the faulty identification point at any time prior to appeal, either at the foundational hearing or at trial. In any event, we reasonably may adopt the People's ultimate position that, regardless of any error in admitting the evidence, no prejudice to defendant resulted therefrom, because the properly admitted other crimes evidence was equally aggravating, involving assaults and molestations of several young girls. Seen in that light, Brian's testimony was largely cumulative. We reject as speculative defendant's suggestion that the jury might have been unduly swayed by the fact that defendant selected a young boy as one of his victims.