Opinion ID: 2515770
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: Defendant's September 9 Letter to His Wife

Text: As part of its case in rebuttal at the penalty phase, and over defense objection, the prosecutor introduced a redacted copy of the September 9 letter that defendant wrote to his wife, Linda Kipp, and that was intercepted by jail personnel approximately one week before they intercepted the September 15 letter that the prosecutor introduced at the guilt phase. In the September 9 letter, defendant wrote of his desire to rape women deputies and to kill district attorneys and their families. Defendant contends the trial court erred in overruling the defense objection to this evidence, arguing that the probative value of the September 9 letter was overwhelmed by its prejudicial impact on the jury. We apply the deferential abuse of discretion standard when reviewing a trial court's ruling under Evidence Code section 352. ( People v. Cudjo, supra, 6 Cal.4th at p. 609, 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 390, 863 P.2d 635.) Applying that standard, we discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court's penalty phase ruling allowing in evidence the September 9 letter. The letter was relevant to rebut defense evidence that defendant committed the two capital murders during a relatively brief period of aberrant behavior, that he had since expressed regret and shame for the murders, and that he was unlikely to commit additional offenses if imprisoned for life. As with the September 15 letter, defendant fails to persuade us that this probative value was greatly diminished by the timing of the admission, coming a few weeks after a jury had returned a penalty verdict of death against defendant for the murder of Antaya Howard. Although defendant may well have been angry, frustrated, and discouraged at that time, defendant does not plausibly explain why the jury could not properly consider these emotions in deciding the appropriate weight to give the evidence. The evidence was properly admitted in rebuttal. (See People v. Mitcham (1992) 1 Cal.4th 1027, 1072-1073, 5 Cal.Rptr.2d 230, 824 P.2d 1277.) Defendant contends that the trial court's ruling admitting the September 9 letter into evidence denied him various rights under the state and federal Constitutions, but he did not object on these grounds in the trial court, and he does not argue here that there are constitutional standards of admissibility more exacting than the statutory standards imposed by the Evidence Code. Having concluded that the evidence was properly admitted under Evidence Code section 352, we also reject these belated and derivative constitutional claims.