Opinion ID: 2552553
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Evidence Defendant's Stepfather Beat His Mother Outside Defendant's Presence

Text: Defendant claims that the trial court erred in sustaining, on relevance grounds, the prosecution's objections to evidence that his stepfather, Pierre Sarrazin, struck Markita Thornton, his mother, on occasions when defendant was not present, allowing evidence only of the incidents when he was present. Sarrazin, Markita Thornton's husband at the time of trial, was called as defendant's witness. He testified that he hit Markita Thornton on five distinct occasions. Defense counsel asked about the second occasion on which the violence occurred, and the prosecution objected on grounds of lack of foundation and irrelevance. The prosecutor explained that defendant was not present at the time. The trial court agreed that under those circumstances the evidence was irrelevant and sustained the objection on that ground. It rejected defense counsel's argument that in her opinion spousal abuse affects children in a household who are being raised there whether or not they are aware of particular incidents. Shortly afterward, the court sustained a relevance objection to another question that asked Sarrazin about a hitting episode when defendant was home but did not hear or see it. It rejected defense counsel's argument that, also in her opinion, an incident of spousal abuse affects children who are home at the time regardless of whether they witness it. Despite these two rulings, defendant was able to introduce considerable evidence of Sarrazin's violence toward Markita Thornton. Sarrazin candidly described two of the five incidents in detail and explained that they arose from disputes over drugs. He also testified about a third incident without prosecution objection even though the record is not clear that defendant was present. Sarrazin also admitted striking defendant on one occasion when defendant was 17 years old. Defendant argues that the excluded evidence of the two incidents was relevant because such episodes generate negative effects on a child whether or not the child observes them. `Studies show that violence by one parent against another harms children even if they do not witness it.' ( In re Sylvia R. (1997) 55 Cal.App.4th 559, 562, 64 Cal.Rptr.2d 93, quoting Fields, The Impact of Spouse Abuse on Children and Its Relevance In Custody and Visitation Decisions in New York State (1994) 3 Cornell J.L. & Pub. Poly. 221, 228.) At trial, however, defendant presented no independent authority for the view he now expresses. Counsel simply ventured her own opinion that living in a household in which abuse occurred affected defendant even if he did not observe it, and even if he was not in the house at the time. Counsel made no offer of proof, did not attempt to lay any factual foundation for the view she expressed, and was not speaking on a subject on which judicial notice could be taken. This was insufficient to establish the relevance of the evidence. The trial court was not required to accept counsel's mere speculation about the psychological consequences of spousal violence in ruling on the proffered evidence's relevance. (See People v. Diaz (1992) 3 Cal.4th 495, 552, 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 353, 834 P.2d 1171 (lead opn. of Kennard, J.); accord, id. at pp. 576-577, 11 Cal.Rptr.2d 353, 834 P.2d 1171 (cone, opn. of Panelli, J.); People v. Medina (1990) 51 Cal.3d 870, 890, 274 Cal.Rptr. 849, 799 P.2d 1282.) We find no abuse of discretion.