Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Exclusion of Defendant's Writings and Testimony About Carpenter's Parole Status

Text: Defendant asserts error in two unrelated rulings by the trial court excluding evidence offered by the defense. He contends these rulings violated his rights to present a defense and to receive a reliable penalty verdict under the Sixth and Eighth Amendments to the federal Constitution.
The defense offered a number of defendant's writings as evidence in mitigation to show his sensitivity, compassion, and writing ability. These writings were: (1) a two-page short story entitled Shorty and the Apple Orchard about a child's experience with a horse; (2) a seventeen-page description of life in prison, entitled Chapter Two: San Quentin State Prison 1970-1971; (3) a three-page essay entitled A Boxcar Realization discussing how prison inmates repress their emotions to avoid appearing vulnerable and how this causes them to dismiss or ignore the emotional trauma suffered by crime victims; (4) a two-page letter of apology, apparently addressed to the defense investigator; (5) a seven-page letter of advice to a friend facing imprisonment for the first time; (6) a five-page autobiographical sketch, entitled Incorrigible, about defendant's experiences with the juvenile justice system in Oregon; (7) a five-page essay entitled The Kind of Juror I Would Like; and (8) twenty-three pages of notes and letters addressed to the trial judge protesting the shackling order and jail conditions during the trial. The trial court admitted all of these exhibits except the last, which the court excluded as hearsay containing an incomplete and misleading account of the justification for the shackling order. (123) Defendant maintains that the ruling is erroneous because the letters and notes to the trial judge were not offered for the truth of the matters stated but merely to demonstrate defendant's capacity for self-expression. We find no error in the court's ruling. Given the large volume of defendant's writings that were received in evidence, the writings in question were properly excluded as cumulative on the issue of defendant's ability to express himself in writing. (See People v. Redmond (1981) 29 Cal.3d 904, 912 [176 Cal. Rptr. 780, 633 P.2d 976].)
The defense sought to impeach the testimony of Ricky Carpenter, the former inmate who described how he assisted defendant in the stabbing of Leroy Banks. Carpenter admitted on direct examination that he was on parole, that he had been granted immunity for the Banks killing, and that he had received some $800 to relocate his family. On cross-examination, Carpenter admitted using heroin in January 1986, but he said he had not used it since. He denied that tests in April and June of 1986 had detected illegal drugs in his system. He said six or seven months remained on his parole period, and that the prosecution had not offered to reduce this period. Testifying as a defense witness on rebuttal, Carpenter's parole officer said that Carpenter had tested positive for morphine in drug tests he took in May and June of 1986, and that he had admitted heroin use. She testified further that Carpenter's use of heroin was a parole violation but that revocation proceedings had not yet been instituted. (124) Defendant contends the court erred in excluding evidence that Carpenter's parole officer had been unable to verify Carpenter's employment. We find no error in the ruling. Evidence about the status of a prosecution witness's parole is admissible to show the witness's potential bias resulting from concern about possible revocation. (See Davis v. Alaska (1974) 415 U.S. 308, 318 [39 L.Ed.2d 347, 354-355, 94 S.Ct. 1105].) For this reason, the trial court properly admitted the evidence that Carpenter was on parole and that he could face revocation as a result of his use of illegal drugs. But evidence about the parole officer's inability to verify his employment had no comparable relevance. When the parole officer was asked about this matter, outside the jury's presence, she testified that maintaining gainful employment was not a condition of Carpenter's parole. Although she said she had not yet verified Carpenter's employment, she did not say this would affect in any way the likelihood of parole revocation. Thus, the proposed testimony had no value for impeachment.