Court Opinion

ID: 9613508
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 04:17:39.7517+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:03:29.605560
License: Public Domain

MOSK, J.
Concurring. I concur in the judgment. Manifestly, petitioner is entitled to the relief he seeks.
I write separately to address the crucial issue of statutory construction.
*1084The people added a new subdivision (b) to Penal Code section 872— hereafter section 872(b)—when the voters approved an initiative constitutional amendment and statute designated as Proposition 115 on the June 5, 1990, Primary Election ballot. The provision declares that “Notwithstanding Section 1200 of the Evidence Code”—which states the rule generally barring hearsay—“the finding of probable cause may be based in whole or in part upon the sworn testimony of a law enforcement officer relating the statements of declarants made out of court offered for the truth of the matter asserted. Any law enforcement officer testifying as to hearsay statements shall either have five years of law enforcement experience or have completed a training course certified by the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training which includes training in the investigation and reporting of cases and testifying at preliminary hearings.”
Plainly, section 872(b) creates a new exception to the hearsay rule. What is not plain, however, is its meaning.
Section 872(b) may be construed narrowly to allow hearsay if given by an officer who simply possesses specified training or experience in, among other things, the investigation of cases. This interpretation cleaves to the literal meaning of the words used in the statutory provision.
Section 872(b) may also be construed somewhat more broadly to allow hearsay if given by an officer who possesses such training or experience in investigation and has actually investigated the case in question. This interpretation seeks to read the condition stated in the statutory provision in light of the condition’s evident purpose, i.e., to assure the reliability of the hearsay given by the officer.
In choosing between these two constructions of section 872(b), I believe that we should make our decision against the background of the principles that underlie the law of hearsay. It is manifest that in enacting the statutory provision, the people legislated in this doctrinal context: they recognized the rule against hearsay and created an exception thereto. Accordingly, we should seek to adopt the interpretation that is the more consonant with those principles.
The hearsay rule generally rejects out-of-court statements offered for their truth because, without the test of cross-examination, they are not deemed sufficiently reliable for admission. (E.g., 1 Witkin, Cal. Evidence (3d ed. 1986) The Hearsay Rule, § 558, p. 534 [Cal. law]; 5 Wigmore, Evidence (Chadbourn ed. 1974) Analytic Rules: The Hearsay Rule, § 1362, p. 3 (hereafter Wigmore) [general Anglo-American common law].) Exceptions exist for classes of statements that meet requirements including possession *1085of adequate indicia of trustworthiness. (E.g., 5 Wigmore, supra, Exceptions to the Hearsay Rule, § 1422, at pp. 253-254 [general Anglo-American common law]; see People v. Tewksbury (1976) 15 Cal.3d 953, 966 [127 Cal.Rptr. 135, 544 P.2d 1335] [Cal. law].)
The narrow construction of section 872(b)—viz., hearsay may be given by an officer with specified training or experience in investigation—is discordant when played against the principles set forth above. Under this reading of the statutory provision, the exception created is not only new but apparently novel. Reliability is not assured for the extrajudicial statements at issue. Like all such statements, they are not subject to cross-examination.1 Neither can they be held to possess adequate indicia of trustworthiness. If they could, they would be admissible if offered by any otherwise competent witness. They are not. As stated, they are admissible only if given by an officer with specified training or experience. To be sure, such training or experience may give grounds for expectation that the statements are reported accurately. But in no way does it guarantee that they are trustworthy in and of themselves.
The somewhat broader construction of section 872(b)—viz., hearsay may be given by an officer who possesses specified training or experience in investigation and has actually investigated the case in question—is far less discordant. True, even under this reading of the statutory provision, the exception created is apparently novel. But here at least, reliability can be assured to some extent. As explained, the extrajudicial statements at issue cannot be held to possess adequate indicia of trustworthiness. They are, however, subject to a kind of indirect cross-examination. An officer who possesses specified training or experience in investigation and has actually investigated the case can be meaningfully questioned about all the matters that might be included in any relevant statement. Through such questioning, the trustworthiness of the statement canbetestedinsomeappreciable way.2
*1086Because the latter construction of section 872(b) is more harmonious than the former within the principles that underlie the law of hearsay, I would adopt it as our interpretation of the statutory provision.3
I now turn briefly to the case at bar. Petitioner seeks a writ of prohibition against the superior court to compel it to dismiss the information and to restrain it from proceeding further. After a preliminary examination, the magistrate made an order holding petitioner to answer the charges in the complaint. Petitioner unsuccessfully moved the superior court to dismiss the ensuing information under Penal Code section 995. He should have succeeded. The magistrate’s order was based essentially on hearsay given by Officer Bruce Alexander, who related an extrajudicial statement by Officer Navin. Alexander evidently had sufficient training or experience in investigation. But he did not actually investigate the case—and, indeed, did not have any significant knowledge thereof. Consequently, the hearsay was inadmissible. As a result, the order was without sufficient support. Therefore, petitioner is entitled to the relief he requests.
For the reasons stated above, I concur in the judgment.

I note in passing that Evidence Code section 1203 generally provides that “The declarant of a statement that is admitted as hearsay evidence may be called and examined by any adverse party as if under cross-examination concerning the statement.” (Id., subd. (a).) Evidence Code section 1203.1, which was added by the people when the voters approved Proposition 115, declares that that provision “is not applicable if the hearsay statement is offered at a preliminary examination” pursuant to section 872(b).

Of course, on occasion an officer who might otherwise be said to possess specified training or experience in investigation and to have actually investigated the case may prove to have inadequate knowledge of the matters included in a particular extrajudicial statement to allow meaningful questioning thereon. Such an officer cannot be deemed to satisfy the training-or-experience and actual-investigation requirements of section 872(b).

It hardly bears noting after one has read their opinion that the majority come close to adopting the foregoing interpretation of section 872(b), but for some reason shy away from doing so.