Opinion ID: 1399120
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Evidence of Plea Offer and Defendant's Refusal

Text: (38) Defendant urges the trial court erred in excluding evidence that the prosecutor had offered, and defendant had refused, the opportunity to plead guilty to murder and testify against Caldwell and Buckley in return for a sentence of life without possibility of parole. Defense counsel sought to introduce evidence of defendant's refusal as mitigating character evidence showing loyalty to his friends. After a series of hearings, the trial court ruled the evidence inadmissible under Evidence Code section 352. The trial court reasoned that the low probative value of the evidence was outweighed by the danger of its confusing and misleading the jury. The trial court also found a possibility of undue consumption of time. We find no abuse of discretion and no violation of constitutional guarantees in the ruling. While it is true, as defendant contends, a capital defendant must be allowed to present all relevant mitigating evidence to the jury ( Skipper v. South Carolina (1986) 476 U.S. 1, 4 [90 L.Ed.2d 1, 6-7, 106 S.Ct. 1669]; Lockett v. Ohio (1978) 438 U.S. 586, 604 [57 L.Ed.2d 973, 989-990, 98 S.Ct. 2954]), the trial court determines relevancy in the first instance and retains discretion to exclude evidence whose probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission will create substantial danger of confusing the issues or misleading the jury. (Evid. Code, § 352; see, e.g., People v. Allen (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1222, 1284-1285 [232 Cal. Rptr. 849, 729 P.2d 115].) The trial court's determination that defendant's refusal of a plea offer fell into the category of excludable evidence was not clearly wrong. As an indication of defendant's character, the refusal in itself was meaningless. Defendant disputes this conclusion. Trial counsel argued that the mere fact of defendant's refusal tended to show that he was loyal to friends. Appellate counsel now suggests the evidence additionally showed that defendant would get along well in prison, that he believed in his own innocence, and that he was willing to trust the judicial system. [22] While it is true that any of the characteristics defendant posits may have been a factor in his refusal, it is also possible to infer other reasons not reflecting so favorably on defendant's character. The mere fact that defendant declined the plea offer could not have significantly helped the jury determine the appropriate penalty. [23] To supply meaning to the bare fact of the refusal, additional inquiry regarding the underlying reasons would have been required. Such examination, as the trial court concluded, had the potential to mislead and confuse the jury. Consequently, we cannot agree that the trial court abused its discretion in excluding the evidence that defendant refused the plea offer. Defendant contends that exclusion of the evidence was improper because his refusal of the plea offer was part of his record and background, inasmuch as it happened and involved him. As such, he urges, it could not be excluded as cumulative. He reads too much into section 190.3, factor (k), in implying that a defendant is entitled to put before the jury evidence of every event that has ever happened to him. Defendant also argues that the fact that the prosecution made the offer was relevant and admissible character evidence. We do not agree. The fact that the offer was made, like the fact that it was refused, is susceptible of numerous inferences. Standing alone, it sheds no light on defendant's character, and would likely mislead rather than assist the jury in its determination. As the People point out, such an offer may reflect leniency rather than a belief that the defendant is less culpable for the crime charged. Defendant notes that the prosecutor could have testified as to his reasons for making the offer. However, the trial court could, as it did, properly conclude that such testimony would have unduly prolonged the trial and drawn the jury's attention to issues having no bearing on aggravating and mitigating factors. Defendant asserts that the California Constitution favors allowing defendants to present evidence of plea offers, since plea bargains are disfavored. (See § 1192.7.) A rule allowing admission of rejected plea offers by which defendants in capital cases could have avoided the death penalty might indeed deter prosecutors from using threats of death penalty charges to coerce plea bargains. However, defendant cites no authority for the notion that such extrinsic policy concerns should inform the trial courts' rulings under Evidence Code section 352. Defendant argues that in excluding the evidence of his refusal, the trial court erroneously placed on him the burden of producing evidence sufficient to persuade the jury to return a sentence other than death. His interpretation of the trial court's ruling is unsupported by the record.