Opinion ID: 2543191
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 13

Heading: Admission of Location of Johnson and Glass Burglaries

Text: The prosecution sought to admit under section 190.3, factor (b) evidence of three burglaries that had occurred shortly before the murders, as showing [t]he presence ... of criminal activity by the defendant which involved the use or attempted use of force or violence or the express or implied threat to use force or violence. The trial court initially excluded evidence of the circumstances of two of these crimes, the burglaries at the Johnson and Glass residences, although it allowed the fact of his conviction for these burglaries to be admitted under section 190.3, factor (c). At the close of the trial, just prior to instructing the jury, however, the trial court ruled that evidence of defendant's convictions for these burglaries was not admissible under factor (c), because convictions are only admissible under this section if they predate the murder or murders with which a defendant is charged. ( People v. Scott (1997) 15 Cal.4th 1188, 1223, 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 240, 939 P.2d 354.) Because the convictions for these burglaries were contemporaneous with defendant's murder conviction, they were therefore not admissible as prior felony convictions. The trial court also ruled, however, that evidence of the Johnson and Glass burglaries was still properly admitted under section 190.3, factor (a), the circumstances of the crime, because they tended to show defendant's state of mind as someone in trouble with the law seeking to find the means to get away, at the time the murder was committed. Notwithstanding the initial limitations on the presentation of the evidence regarding the Johnson and Glass burglaries, the prosecutor, during the opening statement, showed the jury a map of where the various burglaries occurred and divulged the locations of the Johnson and Glass burglaries. Counsel eventually objected and the trial court sustained the objection, not allowing the prosecutor to complete this part of his presentation. Defendant contends disclosure of the location of these burglaries was prejudicial error, resulting in violations of his right to due process, to counsel, and to an impartial jury. The trial court's exclusion of the circumstances of the Johnson and Glass burglaries was based on the erroneous belief that such burglaries were only admissible to the extent allowed under section 190.3, factor (c), rather than factor (a). It is unclear what limitations if any would have been placed on the admission of such evidence if it had been admitted under factor (a). But even assuming error, no prejudice resulted. Defendant contends that the fact these burglaries, together with the Elliott burglary, which was admitted into evidence, and the Breck burglary/murder, were in the same location supported the prosecution's premeditation theory. In fact the evidence of the location of the burglaries was at best only incidentally connected to the prosecution's theory of defendant's mental state. We conclude that divulging the location of these burglaries was harmless under any applicable standard. C. Admission of Circumstances of the Elliott Burglary Defendant contends that evidence of the Elliott burglary was erroneously admitted under section 190.3, factor (b). After defense counsel objected before trial to the admission of evidence of that burglary, the prosecution made an offer of proof, indicating that defendant used a knife to gain access to the house, that he stole a number of guns from the Elliott residence, and that the Elliotts' adult daughter returned to the house apparently while defendant was inside, although there was no direct contact between them. The trial court concluded that the evidence should be admitted, stating that there was a fair inference that there is an implied threat to use force or violence. At trial, the Elliotts' daughter, Brandie Barnden, testified that she returned to the Elliott house around 10:45 a.m. after having been at school, and noticed that there were several matchbooks on the floor, that the garage door was not locked, and that the door from the garage to the back yard was open. When she entered her parents' bedroom to listen to messages on the answering machine, something caught her eye like the movement of a shoe, but she believed her mind was playing tricks on her. When she telephoned her mother shortly thereafter, she thought someone else was on the line, which caused her to leave the house and call the police. Barnden's father, Joe Elliott, subsequently reported several missing guns and his fishing tackle. Most of the guns were recovered in a duffel bag approximately 150 yards from the Elliott house, but a .38-caliber special handgun was found on defendant. Defense counsel move to strike evidence concerning the Elliott burglary, contending it did not meet the criteria of section 190.3 for violent criminal activity, and that this case was distinguishable from one in which we had admitted burglary evidence, People v. Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th 629, 672-678, 7 Cal.Rptr.2d 564, 828 P.2d 705 ( Clair) . The trial court denied the motion, stating that the fact that there was a potential confrontation with a[n] armed burglar made the situation fraught with the potential for violence. Defendant claims the trial court erred. In Clair, the evidence showed that the defendant broke into a woman's then-unoccupied apartment, that he was captured lying in the woman's bed in his underwear, and had brought a butcher knife with him that was found in the bathroom. ( Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th at pp. 673-674, 7 Cal. Rptr.2d 564, 828 P.2d 705.) We affirmed the trial court's holding that the evidence was appropriately admitted under section 190.3 as criminal activity employing force or violence. There was an implied threat. The reasonable inferences are these. Aware of the presence of those who came to the apartment in response to his arrival, defendant took up the knife in the kitchen against their imminent entry. He did so in order to avoid apprehension and make good his escape. Certainly, his purpose was not to employ the weapon simply to facilitate the taking of property: he evidently came equipped with a screwdriver to that end. Not only did he take up the knife, but he also carried it around the apartment as he seemingly readied himself for action. Apparently deciding at the last moment not to risk a physical confrontation but to try to lie himself out of trouble, he cast the weapon away before he actually put it to use. Thus, he chose not to follow through. But he did not, and could not, undo what he had already done. He made an implied threat to use the knife against anyone who might interfere. ( Clair, supra, 2 Cal.4th at pp. 676-677, 7 Cal.Rptr.2d 564, 828 P.2d 705.) Defendant argues that in this case, unlike in Clair, there was no evidence defendant was readying himself to commit violence and then abandoned the plan. Whether or not the trial court erred in admitting evidence of the Elliott burglary, we conclude that the error was not prejudicial. The facts of the burglary were not particularly gruesome. Indeed, the very characteristics of the burglary that make the question of its admissibility close, i.e., that defendant did not enter the house with intent to commit violence, and that no violence resulted, undermine the notion that the jury would have been swayed toward a death sentence by knowledge of the facts of the burglary. In light of the other aggravating evidence against defendantthe circumstances of the crime emphasized by the prosecutor, as well as the properly admitted evidence about the burglary convictionswe conclude that the admission of the facts about this arguably nonviolent burglary was harmless by any applicable standard. D. Admission of Evidence of Premeditation and Sodomy Defendant claims evidence that the murder was premeditated and that he sodomized Breck should not have been admitted, because he did not plead to either premeditated murder or to sodomy. As discussed above, section 190.3 explicitly permits evidence regarding the circumstances of the crime, including the circumstance that the murder may have been premeditated, during the penalty phase, and nothing in the plea agreement precluded such admission. So, too, nothing in the plea agreement prevented admission of evidence that defendant sodomized Breck, as Detective Legg testified defendant had admitted shortly after his arrest.