Court Opinion

ID: 9789513
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 01:37:27.502513+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:22.854302
License: Public Domain

MOSK, J.
I concur in the judgment.
I am much disturbed by the fact that the People considered it desirable to call three jailhouse informants to testify against defendant at his trial. Common experience teaches that such persons “may have good reason to lie . . . .” (United States v. Garcia (5th Cir. 1976) 528 F.2d 580, 588; cf. On Lee v. United States (1952) 343 U.S. 747, 757 [96 L.Ed. 1270, 1277, 72 S.Ct. 967] [stating that “[t]he use of informers, accessories, accomplices, false friends, or any of the other betrayals which are ‘dirty business’ may raise serious questions of credibility”].) Recent events reveal that they may also have effective means—sometimes supplied by governmental authorities, sometimes not—to make their falsehoods appear rational and persuasive. (See Rep. of the 1989-1990 L. A. County Grand Jury: Investigation of the Involvement of Jail House Informants in the Criminal Justice System in L. A. County.)
In spite of the foregoing, review of the record convinces me that the majority’s disposition is sound. Therefore, I agree with the result.
Appellant’s petition for a rehearing was denied April 24, 1991, and the opinion was modified to read as printed above.