Opinion ID: 2632907
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Admission of Defendant's Incourt Admission of Guilt

Text: On September 13, 1994, the trial court was considering a defense motion to exclude the media from the hearing on defendant's motion for change of venue, when this exchange occurred: The Court: Let's take a short break. [¶] Defendant has his finger up. Defendant: I am guilty. The defense later moved to bar the prosecution from-using defendant's statement at trial. The trial court denied the motion. At trial, the prosecutor called court reporter Mary Corbitt, who testified that she heard defendant say he was guilty, and that she recorded this statement in the transcript. Defendant argues that his statement was an offer to plead guilty and was therefore inadmissible under Evidence Code section 1153, which states: Evidence of a plea of guilty, later withdrawn, or of an offer to plead guilty to the crime charged or to any other crime, made by the defendant in a criminal action is inadmissible in any action or in any proceeding of any nature, including proceedings before agencies, commissions, boards, and tribunals. (Italics added; see also Pen. Code, § 1192.4 [A plea of guilty that is not approved by the court may not be received in evidence in any criminal, civil, or special action or proceeding of any nature].) The purpose of section 1153 is to promote the public interest by encouraging the settlement of criminal cases without the necessity of a trial. ( People v. Sirhan (1972) 7 Cal.3d 710, 745, 102 Cal.Rptr. 385, 497 P.2d 1121.) We agree with the trial court that defendant's in-court outburst declaring that he was guilty was not a bona fide offer to plead guilty ( People v. Sirhan, supra, 7 Cal.3d at p. 746, 102 Cal.Rptr. 385, 497 P.2d 1121), but simply an unsolicited admission ] ( People v. Posten (1980) 108 Cal.App.3d 633, 648, 166 Cal.Rptr. 661), that was not made inadmissible by Evidence Code section 1153. Defendant did not say he wanted to enter a plea of guilty; that is, to formally admit that he had committed each of the charged crimes. Rather, he said he was guilty, without explaining what he was guilty of. No plea negotiations were underway, and to exclude statements of this kind would not encourage the settlement of criminal cases. Thus, the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to exclude the statement. [6]