Opinion ID: 2581010
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Challenges to the admission of other testimony given by Terry Guillory and Gary Beach

Text: Defendant asserts that the admission of various portions of the testimony of Terry Guillory and Gary Beach, elicited by the prosecutor on redirect examination, was improper and violated his right to confrontation under the Sixth Amendment to the federal Constitution and article I, section 15 of the California Constitution. Defendant focuses upon Guillory's testimony that he spoke with Donna Guthrie on the morning after the killings and asked whether she wished him to send the police to remove defendant from her house. Guillory recounted that Donna replied that she'd get him out of the house herself and [a]way from her mom. Defendant asserts that this testimony improperly implied that Donna was afraid for her safety during the time she was with defendant shortly after the killings, and believed him guilty. In addition, defendant repeats the substance of the claim discussed above concerning Guillory's testimony about information he obtained from Pat. For the reasons set out ante, part II.J.3, we determine that the admission of Pat's statements to Guillory was not error, and even if it had been error, would not have been prejudicial. We reach the same determinations concerning Guillory's brief testimony from which defendant asserts the jury might have inferred that Donna was afraid of defendant following the killings and believed him guilty. The People assert that defense counsel opened the door to such questioning through cross-examination, during which Guillory testified he wanted to warn Donna, so she could get the maniac away from her mom. Relying upon Dutton v. Evans (1970) 400 U.S. 74, 88, 91 S.Ct. 210, 27 L.Ed.2d 213 (opn. by Stewart, J.), the People assert that no error occurs when a witness's testimony is used merely to prove that a statement was made. [32] Although it is questionable whether the admission of the challenged statements was error, we conclude that in any event such error would have been harmless beyond a reasonable doubt in light of the strong and wholly independent evidence demonstrating that defendant was in fact guilty of the crimes charged. We reach the same conclusions with respect to defendant's claims concerning the testimony of defendant's cousin, Gary Beach. Upon examination, Beach stated that (i) he was told by Rory Pillow that defendant claimed that when he test-fired his gun in the backyard of the Harbour Way house, he was using blanks; and that (ii) defendant had made numerous attempts to complete collect telephone calls to Beach's home prior to the preliminary hearing. Defendant claims that in both respects the testimony was inadmissible hearsay, and that in the latter respect the testimony improperly implied that members of defendant's own family had refused his collect telephone calls because they believed him guilty of the charged crimes. As the People observe, Gary Beach's statement that Rory Pillow had told him that defendant had stated he had fired blanks was not offered for its truth  and indeed was contrary to the prosecution's theory that defendant had test-fired a live round into the garage door at the Harbour Way home. The statement appears to have been introduced to show defendant's consciousness of guilt. In any event, even assuming an evidentiary violation, any error was harmless. This minor evidence of defendant's consciousness of guilt certainly would have been overshadowed in any reasonable juror's mind by the additional ample evidence of defendant's consciousness of guilt  especially his plot to keep Terry Guillory from testifying, and the properly admitted testimony of Gary Beach, recounting defendant's attempt to persuade Beach to testify falsely that defendant had test-fired a .25- or .32-caliber gun rather than the .22-caliber weapon actually used. That, and the other properly admitted evidence demonstrating defendant's guilt, rendered admission of the challenged testimony, assuming it was erroneous, harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As defendant notes, Beach also testified that defendant, while awaiting the preliminary hearing in this case, attempted to make dozens of collect phone calls to him from the jail, and that all but one of these attempted calls were refused by Beach or other members of his household. Even assuming that defendant's hearsay objection to at least some of this testimony should have been sustained, in light of the record in this case any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. As the People correctly observe, far more probative and damaging was the properly admitted evidence that on the one occasion when Beach did accept defendant's collect telephone call, defendant attempted to persuade Beach to perjure himself by testifying that the gun that defendant had test-fired was a .25- or .32-caliber weapon, and not a .22-caliber weapon (the type of firearm used in the killings). This evidence, together with the other properly admitted evidence admitted at trial (showing defendant's motive, presence at the crime scene, and consciousness of guilt), strongly demonstrated defendant's guilt of the charged offenses.