Opinion ID: 2624500
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Asserted Error in Admitting Physical Evidence

Text: Defendant contends the trial court erroneously admitted certain items of evidence in violation of his federal and state constitutional rights to due process, fundamental fairness, and a reliable penalty verdict. Before trial, defendant moved to exclude the saw, butcher knife, and rope found in the van after defendant's arrest, arguing these items, which he claimed he acquired after Eleanore Buchanan's death, were not relevant to any circumstances of the crime under section 190.3, factor (a). Defendant also argued the admission of these items would be more prejudicial than probative because it would allow the jury incorrectly to conclude that defendant had planned to use them to murder Donna Hatch. The prosecutor countered that the items were relevant and probative under section 190.3, factor (a), as circumstantial evidence of identity, in that their similarity to the sorts of items used in the murder of Eleanore Buchanan [23] had a tendency in reason to identify defendant as Buchanan's killer. The prosecutor also argued the items were relevant under factor (b) as evidence of express or implied threats to use force or violence against Hatch and her family. The court agreed, ruling that in light of defendant's continued denial of any complicity in the murder of Eleanore Buchanan, these items were admissible on the issue of identity. Defendant now argues the court erred. First, he renews his argument that the evidence bore no relationship to the murder of Eleanore Buchanan and was therefore inadmissible under section 190.3, factor (a). Second, he argues the items were purchased before, not after, he made threats to Hatch and her family, and therefore were not connected to those threats and irrelevant to factor (b). Lastly, he argues the evidence was more prejudicial than probative, in that it allowed the jury to speculate that defendant intended to repeat his crime and murder Hatch, and therefore the court should have excluded the evidence under Evidence Code section 352. We see no abuse of discretion. `Relevant evidence is defined in Evidence Code section 210 as evidence `having any tendency in reason to prove or disprove any disputed fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action.' The test of relevance is whether the evidence tends `logically, naturally, and by reasonable inference to establish material facts such as identity, intent, or motive. [Citations.]' [Citation.] The trial court has broad discretion in determining the relevance of evidence [citations] but lacks discretion to admit irrelevant evidence. [Citations.]' ( People v. Carter, supra, 36 Cal.4th 1114, 1166-1167.) In light of defendant's continual denial that he was involved in the murder, we find the court did not abuse its discretion in determining that the items of evidence were relevant and admissible on the issue of identity as a circumstance of the crime under section 190.3, factor (a). A reasonable juror could conclude that the butcher knife, saw, and shanks of rope found inside the stolen Buchanan van driven by defendant bore marked similarities to the weapons thought to have been used to murder Eleanore Buchanan and would tend logically to support the inference that defendant was the person who murdered Eleanore Buchanan. Further, contrary to defendant's assertions, the evidence was admissible under section 190.3, factor (b). The factual record shows that defendant purchased the butcher knife, saw, and rope after, not before, as defendant asserts, he first made threats of violence in a note he wrote Hatch. Hence, a jury could logically conclude he purchased them in anticipation of carrying out his threats. [24] It matters not that defendant never delivered the threatening note. The note reveals that defendant's anger at Hatch and her family, and his desire to harm them if he did not get what he wanted, existed before he purchased the butcher knife, saw and rope. The court, therefore, did not err in admitting those items as evidence under section 190.3, factor (b). Finally, defendant argues the prosecutor engaged in misconduct in encouraging the jury to speculate that he was planning to repeat his crimes and kill Donna Hatch as he had killed Eleanore Buchanan. Defendant forfeited this claim by failing to timely object. ( People v. Lewis, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 503.) Nevertheless, because prosecutors have wide latitude to discuss and draw inferences from the evidence at trial, we see no misconduct in the prosecutor's comment. ( People v. Dennis (1998) 17 Cal.4th 468, 522 [71 Cal.Rptr.2d 680, 950 P.2d 1035].)