Opinion ID: 1247657
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Testimony by Gary Ingalls.

Text: (27) Defendant contends the court prejudicially erred in admitting the testimony of Gary Ingalls because he had been hypnotized. (See People v. Shirley (1982) 31 Cal.3d 18 [181 Cal. Rptr. 243, 641 P.2d 775]; People v. Guerra (1984) 37 Cal.3d 385 [208 Cal. Rptr. 162, 690 P.2d 635].) After hearing evidence and argument the court ruled that Ingalls's testimony was admissible because he had not in fact been hypnotized. Defendant disputes the trial court's ruling. Gary Ingalls, the store clerk, gave the police a report on the day of the robbery. On November 18, 1980, Ingalls was taken to a hypnotist, Mr. Fernandez, to see if he could remember additional details. After the session Ingalls did not have any different recollection and did not believe he had been hypnotized. Mr. Fernandez, however, was of the opinion that Ingalls had been hypnotized. On August 4, 1981 (nine months after the session with Mr. Fernandez), Ingalls was examined by Dr. David Spiegel, a psychiatrist. After interviewing Ingalls and Fernandez, listening to a tape of the session, reviewing police reports containing Ingalls's statement, and administering a hypnotic induction profile, Dr. Spiegel concluded Ingalls had not in fact been hypnotized. Dr. Spiegel attached particular significance to Ingalls's use of both past and present tense on the tape since hypnotized subjects usually use the present tense as though reliving the experience. Defendant contends that the court's ruling was erroneous because it was based on the opinion of Dr. Spiegel, which in turn was based on the results of the hypnotic induction profile. He asserts that the court should have disregarded Dr. Spiegel's opinion because the hypnotic induction profile did not meet the Kelly-Frye standard of general acceptance as reliable in the scientific community in which it was developed. ( People v. Kelly (1976) 17 Cal.3d 24 [130 Cal. Rptr. 144, 549 P.2d 1240]; Frye v. United States (D.C. Cir.1923) 293 Fed. 1013 [54 App.D.C. 46, 34 A.L.R. 145].) Defendant did not raise this objection until the time of the trial court's ruling. In any event, the argument is unavailing since the hypnotic induction profile was not the sole basis of Dr. Spiegel's opinion, and Dr. Spiegel's opinion was not the sole basis of the trial court's ruling. The court based its ruling on the testimony of Ingalls himself as well as Dr. Spiegel. Dr. Spiegel, in turn, based his opinion on review of the tape recording of the hypnosis session, police reports regarding Ingalls's statement, and the hypnotic induction profile.