Opinion ID: 1454621
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Admission of Testimony From the Victim's Mother

Text: (35) The prosecution called Lowelene Helms, the victim's mother, as its first witness. Before she testified, defendant objected to any attempt by the prosecution to ask her to identify the autopsy photos of her son's corpse, noting that the photos had already been ruled admissible. The trial court sustained the objection and precluded the testimony, noting the potentially inflammatory effect of such questioning. In an effort to preclude other testimony by Ms. Helms, defense counsel offered to stipulate that: (1) the victim was in lawful possession of the van; (2) he had his mother's consent to use it and her credit cards; and (3) she had given such permission to no one else. The prosecutor declined to accept the stipulation and the trial court refused to compel acceptance. Ms. Helms took the stand, testifying very briefly (her testimony occupies approximately five transcript pages) to matters included in the proffered stipulation as well as others. Defendant contends that her testimony was calculated to inflame and prejudice the jury and that reversal is required. We disagree. Initially, there was no defense objection to several items in Ms. Helms's testimony that are now claimed to be inflammatory or prejudicial, e.g., (1) her reference to her husband's death from cancer and to her loan of the van to her son so he could get away; and (2) her identification of photos of her son while alive. In the absence of an objection, defendant has waived any error in the admission of this evidence. (Evid. Code, § 353.) Although the court should have required a stipulation on routine evidence to avoid the prospect of prejudicial victim-impact testimony (see People v. Bonin (1989) 47 Cal.3d 808, 848-849 [254 Cal. Rptr. 298, 765 P.2d 460]; People v. Brown (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1247, 1262 [248 Cal. Rptr. 817, 756 P.2d 204]), we find no reversible error from its failure to do so. The testimony given by Ms. Helms was brief, concise, and primarily directed to routine and undisputed matters. We cannot conclude that the jury's passions or prejudices were excited by such innocuous references. Moreover, any error in this regard was clearly harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant's guilt. (See pt. XXIII, post. )