Court Opinion

ID: 9533423
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:31:42.072662+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:29:02.898526
License: Public Domain

CARTER, J.
I concur in the views expressed in the opinion prepared by Mr. Justice Traynor. In Priestly v. Superior Court, ante, p. 812 [330 P.2d 39] I have expressed my views somewhat at length on the right of a defendant in a criminal case to cross-examine a witness on a material issue.
Defendant contends that the denial of the right of cross-examination in this case was a denial of a constitutional right. In the Priestly case I concluded that in the preliminary hearing the accused was denied a constitutional right of a fair hearing where the magistrate denied him the right of *831cross-examination on a disputed factual issue and on which the outcome of the proceedings hinged. The factual issue disputed in the Priestly case was the presence of probable cause for the arrest and search. In this case defendant does not dispute that there was probable cause for the arrest and seizure, but only desires to know the informants’ identities to better prepare his defense at the trial. This is precisely what defendant will receive. However, it is readily apparent that the testimony of the police officers relating the information given by the informants is not crucial to the issue of whether there is any competent evidence to hold defendant. It cannot be said, therefore, that the denial of defendant’s right of cross-examination amounted to a denial of a fair hearing or to deprivation of his liberty without due process of law.