Opinion ID: 1182062
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Admission of Evidence Regarding the Envelope

Text: (20) Defendant also challenges the admission of evidence that defendant was in possession of the white envelope containing $208.23 at the time he was booked. Initially, defendant failed to object to admission of this evidence in the trial court and has therefore waived the issue on appeal. (Evid. Code, § 353; People v. Harris (1981) 28 Cal.3d 935, 962 [171 Cal. Rptr. 679, 623 P.2d 240].) Moreover, the evidence was properly admitted; therefore, defense counsel was not ineffective in failing to object. One officer testified that he was fairly positive the money was in an envelope and that standard booking practice was to discard such an envelope and use a jail envelope to keep any cash found on a prisoner's person. Another officer testified defendant had a regular, white letter-sized envelope in his right hand when he entered into the booking area and was clutching it, claiming it was his money. Defendant's various arguments about this testimony, e.g., that it was not sufficiently certain and did not include evidence that the envelope was marked with an amount and a type of purchase, went to its weight rather than its admissibility. They were properly addressed to the jury. None of defendant's arguments establishes any statutory or constitutional infirmity in the admission of such relevant circumstantial evidence. (21) Defendant's argument that the testimony violated the best evidence rule also fails. That rule applies only when the contents of a writing are at issue, not merely the existence of a physical object. (Evid. Code, § 1505; see People v. Whittaker (1974) 41 Cal. App.3d 303, 309 [115 Cal. Rptr. 845]; People v. Daniels (1971) 16 Cal. App.3d 36, 46 [93 Cal. Rptr. 628].) Moreover, even assuming content was at issue, the envelope was not in existence at the time of trial. Neither the police nor the prosecution destroyed it with fraudulent intent. Testimony may be adduced to prove the content of a lost writing. (Evid. Code, §§ 1501, 1505.)