Opinion ID: 2623595
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Failure to Instruct Regarding Impeachment Use of Defendants' Admissions

Text: When defendants' extrajudicial statements were admitted into evidence, the trial court gave the jury no instruction limiting their use to impeachment of defendants' credibility. Among the instructions the trial court read at the close of the guilt phase was CALJIC No. 2.13, which informs the jury that a witness's prior inconsistent statements may be considered not only as they bear on the witness's credibility, but also as evidence of the truth of the facts as stated by the witness on the prior occasion. Marlow, joined by Coffman, contends the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury, sua sponte, that statements taken in violation of Miranda could be used only for impeachment purposes under the rule of Harris v. New York, supra, 401 U.S. 222, 91 S.Ct. 643. They argue that the court's giving of CALJIC No. 2.13 resulted in the jury's improper use of the statements as substantive evidence of guilt. In People v. Nudd (1974) 12 Cal.3d 204, 209, 115 Cal.Rptr. 372, 524 P.2d 844, overruled on other grounds in People v. Disbrow (1976) 16 Cal.3d 101, 113, 127 Cal. Rptr. 360, 545 P.2d 272, this court declined to impose on trial courts a sua sponte obligation to give a limiting instruction when admitting Miranda -violative statements for impeachment purposes. Marlow, however, contends Nudd is, in this respect, no longer good law in light of Richardson v. Marsh, supra, 481 U.S. at pages 206-207, 107 S.Ct. 1702, in which the high court in dictum observed that in [ Harris v. New York, supra, 401 U.S. 222, 91 S.Ct. 643], we held that statements elicited from a defendant in violation of [ Miranda, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. 1602], can be introduced to impeach that defendant's credibility, even though they are inadmissible as evidence of his guilt, so long as the jury is instructed accordingly.  (Italics added.) The Courts of Appeal have been divided on the question whether such a sua sponte instructional obligation exists. (Compare People v. Torrez (1995) 31 Cal.App.4th 1084, 1088-1091, 37 Cal.Rptr.2d 712 [no sua sponte obligation] with People v. Duncan (1988) 204 Cal.App.3d 613, 620-622, 251 Cal.Rptr. 355 [imposing sua sponte duty].) Recently, however, in People v. Gutierrez, supra, 28 Cal.4th at page 1134, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 373, 52 P.3d 572, this court rejected a claim that the admission for impeachment of a defendant's Miranda -violative statement, without a limiting instruction and notwithstanding the giving of CALJIC No. 2.13, constituted error. The same conclusion obtains here. [16]