Opinion ID: 2608844
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Issues Relating to Evidence of Uncharged Criminal Activity

Text: During the penalty phase, the prosecution introduced evidence of 11 separate incidents involving the use or threat of violence by defendant, pursuant to section 190.3, factor (b). 1. Defendant first contends the admission of evidence of unadjudicated criminal activities committed by defendant violated his constitutional rights under the Fifth and Eighth Amendments. Defendant raised no constitutional objection to the admission of the evidence at trial. Furthermore, we have previously rejected similar or identical claims. (See People v. Balderas, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 205; People v. Rodriguez, supra, 42 Cal.3d at pp. 777-779.) Defendant has presented us with no persuasive reason to depart from our prior holdings. 2. Defendant further contends the court erred in failing to instruct sua sponte that the jury must unanimously agree the unadjudicated offenses were proved beyond a reasonable doubt. We rejected this claim in People v. Miranda (1987) 44 Cal.3d 57, 99 [241 Cal. Rptr. 594, 744 P.2d 1127]. We discern no persuasive reason to reconsider it here. 3. Defendant next contends the court erred by instructing the jury on aiding and abetting in terms of the pre- Beeman ( People v. Beeman, supra, 35 Cal.3d 547) version of CALJIC Nos. 3.00 and 3.01. He contends the error was prejudicial as applied to two of the unadjudicated offenses. Jesus Miras testified that sometime after the victim in this matter was abducted and killed, he was lured by Christina Menchaca to a car containing two men and two women (which would correspond with Tina Topping, Menchaca, defendant and Marlin Lewis), kidnapped and robbed at knife- and gunpoint. Unlike the victim in this case, however, Mr. Miras managed to free himself from the car and escape. George Key also testified about an incident which occurred in 1973. Key was approached by two young men, defendant and an individual named Eddie Davis, who requested his assistance in starting an automobile. When Mr. Key complied, he was distracted by defendant and knocked unconscious by Davis. The pair then stole Mr. Key's white 1957 Chevrolet. (18) Although the trial court's instruction on aiding and abetting failed to advise the jury that defendant must share the criminal intent of the perpetrator, we find the error harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The instructions as given required that an aider and abettor have acted with knowledge of the perpetrator's unlawful purpose; hence one aspect of defendant's mental state was clearly before the jury. (See People v. Malone (1988) 47 Cal.3d 1, 49 [252 Cal. Rptr. 525, 762 P.2d 1249]; People v. Croy, supra, 41 Cal. at pp. 13-14.) Furthermore, George Key's testimony  if believed by the jury  portrayed defendant as an active participant in the assault and robbery, not merely as an aider and abettor. Similarly, if the jury believed that defendant was guilty of the kidnap, assault and robbery of Mr. Miras, there is no likelihood  based on the testimony  that his liability was premised on a theory of aiding and abetting. (See People v. Leach, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 105.) Moreover, the prosecution adduced evidence of nine additional incidents in which defendant used or threatened to use violence. We discern no reasonable possibility that the omission of the shared-intent element could have affected the penalty verdict. ( People v. Malone, supra, 47 Cal.3d at pp. 49-50.) 4. Officer Reid of the California Highway Patrol testified that he was involved in a high-speed chase of the car that defendant and Eddie Davis stole from Mr. Key. During the chase, Officer Reid was wounded by a shotgun blast fired from the rear of the car. Ultimately the car went out of control and Eddie Davis, who was driving, was fatally shot by the officers. Defendant, who was in the backseat, was arrested. Officer Reid testified that he observed only two individuals in the car; he believed defendant fired the shot that wounded him. The prosecutor referred briefly to Officer Reid's testimony during argument. Defendant contends Officer Reid's testimony was inconsistent with a summary of the incident in defendant's probation report filed after his first trial which states that three individuals were in the car  Eddie Davis, defendant, and defendant's brother. The probation report was not placed in evidence in the retrial, however. Thus, it would have been improper to refer to it during argument. Furthermore, there is no evidence that either Officer Reid or the prosecutor intentionally falsified evidence or that either was even aware of the discrepancy. There is no basis for a finding of prejudicial error.