Court Opinion

ID: 9796306
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 03:54:50.791187+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:49:55.268963
License: Public Domain

KENNARD, J., Concurring.
Defendant subpoenaed a witness to testify at his upcoming criminal trial. At the time, the witness was in the custody of the *275Sonoma County Sheriff because he was serving a jail sentence on a matter unrelated to defendant’s trial. After the witness completed his sentence, the sheriff turned him over to federal immigration authorities, who promptly deported him, thereby making him unavailable to testify on behalf of defendant. I agree with the majority that the release of the witness to federal immigration authorities did not violate defendant’s constitutional right to compel the attendance of witnesses on his behalf. (U.S. Const., 6th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 15.)
As the majority points out, to establish a violation of the right to compel the attendance of witnesses a defendant must show, among other things, misconduct by the prosecution. (People v. Lucas (1995) 12 Cal.4th 415, 457 [48 Cal.Rptr.2d 525, 907 P.2d 373].) The prosecution team comprises not only the prosecutor but also “others acting on the government’s behalf in the case, including the police.” (Kyles v. Whitley (1995) 514 U.S. 419, 437 [131 L.Ed.2d 490, 115 S.Ct. 1555].) Here, defendant has not established prosecutorial misconduct because the federal immigration detainer required the Sonoma County Sheriff to deliver the witness to the custody of federal officials; defendant has failed to establish prosecutorial involvement in the deportation of the witness. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 270, 272-273.) This conclusion is sufficient to resolve this issue.
But the majority also holds that even though the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Department investigated the crime with which defendant was charged, the sheriff’s deputies operating the jail cannot be considered members of the prosecution team, and therefore any misconduct by those deputies cannot be attributed to the prosecution. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 270-271.)
This is a difficult issue that, in light of the majority’s correct conclusion pertaining to the federal immigration detainer, need not be addressed in this case. Whether the prosecution team includes the investigating law enforcement agency itself or only some of its personnel and, if so, which personnel under what circumstances, are substantial questions as shown by language in a couple of our cases suggesting that the agency itself is part of the prosecution team (see People v. Zambrano (2007) 41 Cal.4th 1082, 1133 [63 Cal.Rptr.3d 297, 163 P.3d 4]; In re Steele (2004) 32 Cal.4th 682, 696-697 [10 Cal.Rptr.3d 536, 85 P.3d 444]) and language in an earlier decision suggesting that only the agency’s investigators are part of the prosecution team (In re Brown (1998) 17 Cal.4th 873, 879 [72 Cal.Rptr.2d 698, 952 P.2d 715]). *276Because there was no prosecutorial misconduct here and thus there is no need to resolve the issue in this case, and because of the difficulty in determining who are or are not members of the prosecution team, I do not join the majority’s holding on this point.
Moreno, J., concurred.