Opinion ID: 2613228
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Testimony of Denise Lancaster

Text: Defendant contends the court erred in allowing witness Denise Lancaster to testify at the guilt phase that defendant had threatened to kill her and had told her he had killed before. At an in limine hearing, Lancaster testified she had picked up defendant in March 1986 while he was hitchhiking. (The charged murders occurred in January 1986.) He raped her, threatened to kill her, and told her he had killed before. The court ruled that Lancaster could not testify concerning the rape, but could relate the other statements. At trial, she did so, referring to the rape as a physical confrontation with defendant. (12) Defendant asserts Lancaster's testimony that he had killed before was irrelevant because the statement was not linked to the charged murders. (Cf. People v. Hamilton (1985) 41 Cal.3d 408, 417, 428 [221 Cal. Rptr. 902, 710 P.2d 981] [defendant's statement, Yeah, [I've had my fun,] and I'll kill a lot more, too, and you may be first on my list, held admissible because in context it required no speculation to connect it to the [pending murder charges].) Defendant suggests that admissions of prior criminal conduct unrelated to the charged offense are inadmissible at the guilt phase, being essentially character evidence barred by Evidence Code section 1102, subdivision (b). We think that defendant's admission of a prior killing or killings, made soon after the charged murders were committed, was relevant to the ultimate question of defendant's guilt. The jury was entitled to infer that defendant was referring to the killing of Castro and Holmes. The fact that he could have been referring to an unrelated killing goes more to the weight of his statement than to its admissibility. Moreover, in light of the other evidence of defendant's guilt, outlined above, any error in admitting Lancaster's testimony concerning defendant's admission of a prior killing was harmless. We note that defendant does not argue the inadmissibility of Lancaster's recital of defendant's threat to kill her. Although this evidence seemingly would have little relevance to the issue of defendant's guilt, it is at least arguable the threat confirmed defendant's intent or state of mind to kill those who opposed him. (See People v. Lang, supra, 49 Cal.3d at pp. 1013-1016.) In any event, any error in admitting the statement was undoubtedly harmless in light of the remaining evidence of guilt.