Opinion ID: 1215480
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 14

Heading: Failure to Give Proper Instructions on Other-crimes Evidence

Text: (20) Defendant contends, and the Attorney General concedes, that the court erred in failing to instruct the jury sua sponte that evidence of defendant's prior criminal acts would be considered in aggravation only if proved beyond a reasonable doubt. ( People v. Robertson (1983) 33 Cal.3d 21, 53-55 [188 Cal. Rptr. 77, 655 P.2d 279] (plur. opn. by Kaus, J.), pp. 60-63 (conc. opn. by Broussard, J.).) On this record, we do not find that the court's failure to give the Robertson instruction would have affected the outcome of the penalty phase of defendant's trial. Most of the other-crimes evidence introduced related to felony crimes for which defendant had already been convicted, including the crimes involving the 13 and 11 year olds, and the false imprisonment of the college student. The remainder of the crimes [28] and their violent nature were clearly proved by testimony of either the victim of defendant's assault or an eyewitness to the event, and defendant introduced no evidence denying or contradicting the evidence presented by the prosecution related to the crimes. [29] Because the most serious of the prior criminal acts were acts for which the defendant was convicted, and the remainder of the crimes were situations in which the evidence is compelling, we find that, under any standard, the failure to give the Robertson, supra, 33 Cal.3d 21, instruction was not prejudicial to defendant.