Opinion ID: 1201769
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Constitutional claims; standard of prejudice

Text: Defendant urges that the trial court's exclusion of Culver's testimony usurped his federal due process and fair trial rights. In essence, defendant complains he was unconstitutionally deprived of the right to present a defense. Hence, he reasons, the prejudicial effect of the error must be measured under the constitutional standard of Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 24 [17 L.Ed.2d 705, 710-711, 87 S.Ct. 824, 24 A.L.R.3d 1065] (reversal required unless error harmless beyond reasonable doubt). (6) We find no constitutional violation. As a general matter, the ordinary rules of evidence do not impermissibly infringe on the accused's [constitutional] right to present a defense. Courts retain ... a traditional and intrinsic power to exercise discretion to control the admission of evidence in the interests of orderly procedure and the avoidance of prejudice. [Citations.] ... [T]his principle applies perforce to evidence of third-party culpability.... ( People v. Hall, supra, 41 Cal.3d 826, 834-835.) It follows, for the most part, that the mere erroneous exercise of discretion under such normal rules does not implicate the federal Constitution. Even in capital cases, we have consistently assumed that when a trial court misapplies Evidence Code section 352 to exclude defense evidence, including third-party-culpability evidence, the applicable standard of prejudice is that for state law error, as set forth in People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836 [299 P.2d 243] (error harmless if it does not appear reasonably probable verdict was affected). (E.g., People v. Alcala, supra, 4 Cal.4th 742, 791; People v. Babbitt, supra, 45 Cal.3d 660, 688; People v. Hall, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 836; People v. Wright (1985) 39 Cal.3d 576, 585-586 [217 Cal. Rptr. 212, 703 P.2d 1106].) Justice Kennard, in her dissent, urges that by barring a crucial defense witness as incredible, the trial court unconstitutionally invaded the jury's function and denied defendant his right, under the compulsory process clause of the Sixth Amendment, to present witnesses in his behalf. The United States Supreme Court has held that the constitutional right to present and confront material witnesses may be infringed by general rules of evidence or procedure which preclude material testimony or pertinent cross-examination for arbitrary reasons, such as unwarranted and overbroad assumptions of untrustworthiness. However, the high court has never suggested that a trial court commits constitutional error whenever it individually assesses and rejects a material defense witness as incredible. (See, e.g., Michigan v. Lucas (1991) 500 U.S. 145 [114 L.Ed.2d 205, 111 S.Ct. 1743] [preclusive effect of statutory notice-of-evidence requirement in rape case]; Taylor v. Illinois (1988) 484 U.S. 400 [98 L.Ed.2d 798, 108 S.Ct. 646] [sanction of preclusion for defense violation of discovery rules]; Rock v. Arkansas (1987) 483 U.S. 44 [97 L.Ed.2d 37, 107 S.Ct. 2704] [exclusion of accused's own testimony under state rule disallowing all hypnotically refreshed evidence]; Green v. Georgia (1979) 442 U.S. 95 [60 L.Ed.2d 738, 99 S.Ct. 2150] [absolute state failure to recognize hearsay exception for declarations against penal interest]; Davis v. Alaska (1974) 415 U.S. 308 [39 L.Ed.2d 347, 94 S.Ct. 1105] [denial of cross-examination for bias based on state rule making evidence of juvenile proceedings inadmissible in adult court]; Chambers v. Mississippi, supra, 410 U.S. 284 [state rule precluding cross-examination of party's own witness]; Washington v. Texas (1967) 388 U.S. 14 [18 L.Ed.2d 1019, 87 S.Ct. 1920] [state rule precluding accomplice from testifying for defense]; but cf. Delaware v. Van Arsdall (1986) 475 U.S. 673 [89 L.Ed.2d 674, 106 S.Ct. 1431] [preclusion of cross-examination for bias, based upon individual assessment of probative value against prejudice, violated confrontation clause].) (7) We reiterate that in general under California law, the credibility of individual witnesses is properly the province of the jury. ( Hall, supra, 41 Cal.3d at p. 834.) Nonetheless, absent clearer guidance from above, we will not lightly assume that a trial court invites federal constitutional scrutiny each and every time it decides, on the basis of the particular circumstances, to exclude a defense witness as unworthy of credit. We decline to extend the federal decisions in the manner proposed by defendant and in Justice Kennard's dissent. We conclude that the Watson standard of prejudice applies to the trial court's mistake.