Opinion ID: 2640351
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Asserted Trial Court Error in Admitting Evidence of Defendant's Two Prior Uncharged Robberies

Text: Before trial, the prosecution moved to admit evidence that defendant committed the uncharged Reyes-Martinez and Tillman robberies in order to prove that defendant intended to rob Ly during the course of murdering him. The prosecution argued the evidence was admissible under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b), because the crimes shared numerous similarities: in each of the prior robberies, defendant had a companion to assist him in the robbery; he robbed and assaulted the victims; he was the aggressor of the two assailants; he attacked a vulnerable victim who was a stranger to him; the victim did not fight back; he assaulted his victim whether or not the victim cooperated; and he had a dual purpose to steal from and assault each victim. Defense counsel argued the evidence was irrelevant, more prejudicial than probative under Evidence Code section 352, and impermissible propensity evidence under Evidence Code section 1101. Counsel maintained there was no evidence Ly had been robbed, in that a key was found near his head and no other property had been taken. The trial court overruled each of defendant's objections and ruled the evidence of defendant's prior robberies and assaults admissible on the issue of intent. The trial court also overruled counsel's additional objections under Evidence Code section 352 that the prior robberies were remote in time and that defendant committed those offenses when he was a juvenile. On appeal, defendant renews his argument that the evidence of the uncharged robberies should have been excluded under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b), because the prosecution presented no evidence that he attempted to rob Ly during the course of murdering him, and in any event the evidence should have been excluded as more prejudicial than probative under Evidence Code section 352. He asserts the admission of the evidence violated his state and federal constitutional rights to due process, a fair trial, and a reliable penalty determination. (1) Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (a) generally prohibits the admission of evidence of a prior criminal act against a criminal defendant when offered to prove his or her conduct on a specified occasion. Subdivision (b) of that section, however, provides that such evidence is admissible when relevant to prove some fact in issue, such as motive, intent, knowledge, identity, or the existence of a common design or plan. The admissibility of other crimes evidence depends on (1) the materiality of the facts sought to be proved, (2) the tendency of the uncharged crimes to prove those facts, and (3) the existence of any rule or policy requiring exclusion of the evidence. ( People v. Carpenter (1997) 15 Cal.4th 312, 378-379 [63 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 935 P.2d 708].) Evidence may be excluded under Evidence Code section 352 if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the probability that its admission would create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. ( People v. Harrison (2005) 35 Cal.4th 208, 229 [25 Cal.Rptr.3d 224, 106 P.3d 895].) Because substantial prejudice is inherent in the case of uncharged offenses, such evidence is admissible only if it has substantial probative value. ( People v. Kelly (2007) 42 Cal.4th 763, 783 [68 Cal.Rptr.3d 531, 171 P.3d 548].) (2) We have considered specific circumstances under which evidence of uncharged crimes may be admitted under subdivision (b) of Evidence Code section 1101. When the prosecution seeks to prove the defendant's identity as the perpetrator of the charged offense with evidence he had committed uncharged offenses, the admissibility of evidence of the uncharged offenses turns on proof that the charged and uncharged offenses share sufficient distinctive common features to raise an inference of identity. A lesser degree of similarity is required to establish the existence of a common plan or scheme and still less similarity is required to establish intent. ( People v. Roldan (2005) 35 Cal.4th 646, 705 [27 Cal.Rptr.3d 360, 110 P.3d 289]; People v. Ewoldt (1994) 7 Cal.4th 380, 402-403 [27 Cal.Rptr.2d 646, 867 P.2d 757].) In order to be admissible to prove intent, the uncharged misconduct must be sufficiently similar to the charged offense to support the inference that the defendant probably acted with the same intent in each instance. ( People v. Kelly, supra, 42 Cal.4th at p. 783; People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 402.) The decision whether to admit other crimes evidence rests within the discretion of the trial court. ( People v. Kelly, supra, 42 Cal.4th at p. 783.) By pleading not guilty, defendant placed all the elements of the murder as well as the attempted robbery and hate-murder special-circumstances allegations in dispute at trial. ( People v. Roldan, supra, 35 Cal.4th at pp. 705-706.) On the issue of intent, defendant declined to stipulate that he intended to permanently deprive Ly of his property. Accordingly, defendant's intent when he murdered Ly was a material fact. Citing People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th 380, and People v. Guerrero (1976) 16 Cal.3d 719 [129 Cal.Rptr. 166, 548 P.2d 366], defendant first contends that because there was no independent evidence that he attempted to rob Ly, the evidence of the uncharged robberies was erroneously admitted on the issue of intent. In Guerrero, this court relied on the absence of any independent evidence of actual or attempted sexual activity between the defendant and the victim to hold that evidence of a prior rape was inadmissible to establish that the charged murder was committed during the course of an attempted rape, i.e., to show the defendant's intent to engage in sexual activity with the victim. ( People v. Guerrero, supra, 16 Cal.3d at pp. 727-728.) In short, the People may not conjure up an attempted rape in this instance in order to introduce evidence of another rape. ( Id. at p. 728.) In Ewoldt, we stated that when proving a defendant's intent with evidence of uncharged crimes, the act alleged is `conceded or assumed,' leaving only the question of `the state of mind that accompanied it.' ( People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 394, fn. 2.) Here, defendant concedes the prosecution proved he murdered Ly but insists there was no evidence he attempted to rob him. Not so. (3) Robbery is the felonious taking of personal property in the possession of another, from his person or immediate presence, and against his will, accomplished by means of force or fear. (§ 211.) An attempted robbery requires a specific intent to commit robbery and a direct, ineffectual act (beyond mere preparation) toward its commission. ( People v. Medina (2007) 41 Cal.4th 685, 694 [61 Cal.Rptr.3d 677, 161 P.3d 187].) Defendant's admissions in the February 23d letter to Dulaney establish he committed acts that tended to show he attempted to rob Ly: defendant admitted he walked up to Ly at the tennis courts and Ly was scared; defendant hit Ly, causing him to fall to the ground; Ly told defendant that he could have whatever he wanted but that he had only a key; defendant asked Ly if he had a car; and when Ly said he had none, defendant put his knife to his throat and asked him again whether he had a car. Thus, evidence of the prior robberies was logically probative of whether, in hitting and knocking Ly to the ground and demanding to know if Ly had a car, defendant intended to rob him. The evidence of defendant's involvement in the Reyes-Martinez and Tillman robberies tends to prove this material fact. Defendant's attack on Ly in this case shares numerous distinctive common features with those robberies. Defendant brought a companion to assist him in each crime: Christopher assisted defendant in the attack on Ly, and Harp and Ellis aided defendant in the prior robberies of Reyes-Martinez and Tillman, respectively. In each crime, defendant assaulted his victims and was the aggressor of the two assailants: Defendant knocked Ly to the ground before demanding to know if Ly had a car and put a knife to Ly's throat when he said he had none; defendant hit, chased, and kicked Reyes-Martinez before he and Harp stole the victim's money; and defendant punched the elderly Tillman in the face as he and Ellis left her home after stealing her money. Defendant did not know any of the victims. Each victim was vulnerable (alone, elderly, or outnumbered), did not fight back, and was assaulted whether or not he or she cooperated. Defendant argues for the first time on appeal that the trial court should have excluded any reference that defendant assaulted Reyes-Martinez and Tillman during the commission of the uncharged robberies because evidence of the assaults had virtually no probative value on the issue of whether he killed Ly during an attempted robbery. Because he failed to request that the trial court sanitize the evidence of the prior uncharged robberies by excluding references to the assaults, however, he cannot raise this issue for the first time on appeal. ( People v. Elliot (2005) 37 Cal.4th 453, 472 [35 Cal.Rptr.3d 759, 122 P.3d 968]; Evid. Code, § 353, subd. (a) [a judgment shall not be reversed because of the erroneous admission of evidence unless there was a timely objection so stated as to make clear the specific ground of the objection].) Even were we to assume that defendant properly preserved this issue, we would reject his contention. Defendant's brutal acts of violence towards the victims in the Reyes-Martinez and Tillman robberies were part and parcel of those robberies and, as stated above, shared substantial similarities with his conduct towards Ly in this case. Further, contrary to defendant's protests that his act of punching the elderly victim's face in the Tillman robbery was gratuitous and unconnected to the robbery, defendant's admission that he punched Tillman because he was fearful she might escape was evidence of the force or fear element of the robbery. (See People v. Hill (1998) 17 Cal.4th 800, 850 [72 Cal.Rptr.2d 656, 952 P.2d 673] [the force or fear element of robbery is satisfied if the perpetrator uses force to retain or escape with the property].) Under the totality of the circumstances, evidence of defendant's uncharged robberies of Reyes-Martinez and Tillman, including evidence he assaulted each victim during the commission of those crimes, reasonably could assist the jurors in determining whether defendant assaulted Ly in an attempt to rob him. Thus, the evidence was probative of defendant's intent to rob. The trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of these uncharged crimes. We also conclude the trial court acted within its discretion under Evidence Code section 352 in finding the probative value of the evidence of the uncharged robberies was not substantially outweighed by the potential for undue prejudice. As explained, the evidence had substantial probative value with respect to whether defendant intended to rob Ly at the time of the murder. The trial court instructed the prosecutor to keep this evidence brief so that it would be neither cumulative nor excessive. Based on our review of the record, we are satisfied the prosecution's presentation of this evidence complied with the court's directive. Moreover, none of the uncharged conduct was particularly inflammatory compared to the manner in which defendant brutally murdered Ly by stomping on his head, repeatedly stabbing him, and slicing the veins in his neck. ( People v. Ewoldt, supra, 7 Cal.4th at p. 405.) Further, the trial court's instructions to the jury under CALJIC No. 2.09, regarding evidence admitted for a limited purpose, and CALJIC No. 2.50, advising it to consider such evidence not to prove defendant's predisposition to commit crimes but rather to determine whether the necessary element of intent to rob was proven, eliminated any danger of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. (Evid. Code, § 352.) We presume the jury followed these instructions. ( People v. Coffman and Marlow (2004) 34 Cal.4th 1, 107 [17 Cal.Rptr.3d 710, 96 P.3d 30].) (4) We reject defendant's contention that the admission of the uncharged robberies violated his constitutional rights to due process, a fair trial, and a reliable adjudication at all stages of a capital trial. We have long observed that [a]pplication of the ordinary rules of evidence generally does not impermissibly infringe on a capital defendant's constitutional rights. ( People v. Kraft (2000) 23 Cal.4th 978, 1035 [99 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 5 P.3d 68].) Defendant fails to persuade us his case presents an exception to this general rule. Finally, assuming for the sake of argument that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of defendant's prior crimes, reversal is not required. Even if the other crimes evidence had been excluded, defendant's admissions in his February 23d letter to Dulaney, including his numerous references to 2/11, which defendant admitted referred to armed robbery, provided compelling evidence defendant intended to rob Ly. (See pt. II.B., post. ) Accordingly, a result more favorable to defendant was not reasonably probable absent admission of the prior crimes evidence. ( People v. Welch (1999) 20 Cal.4th 701, 750 [85 Cal.Rptr.2d 203, 976 P.2d 754]; People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836 [299 P.2d 243].) For the same reasons, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. (See Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18, 24 [17 L.Ed.2d 705, 87 S.Ct. 824]; People v. Cole (2004) 33 Cal.4th 1158, 1195 [17 Cal.Rptr.3d 532, 95 P.3d 811].)