People v. Gutierrez
People v. Gutierrez
Opinion of the Court
RAMIREZ P. J.
*87Defendant Edgar Gutierrez walked up to a stranger and demanded the keys to his car. When the victim did not turn them over, defendant said, in Spanish, "[G]ive me the keys or it's going to be fucked up." The victim called 911, and defendant left. As a result, defendant was convicted of attempted carjacking. ( Pen. Code, §§ 215, subd. (a), 664.)
*892Defendant claimed that he merely asked the victim if he had keys and could give him a ride. He denied threatening the victim; he claimed that he spoke Spanish poorly and the victim must have misunderstood him.
Defendant now contends that the trial court erred by:
1. Allowing the prosecution to impeach him with the facts underlying his prior felony conviction.
2. Discouraging the jury from requesting a readback of testimony.
We find no error. Hence, we will affirm.
I
THE PROSECUTION'S USE OF THE FACTS UNDERLYING DEFENDANT'S PRIOR FELONY CONVICTION TO IMPEACH HIM
Defendant contends that the trial court erred by allowing the prosecution to impeach him with the facts underlying his 2011 conviction for felony evading.
A. Additional Factual and Procedural Background .
Defendant moved in limine to preclude the prosecution from introducing evidence of his prior convictions to impeach him. He argued that the priors were more prejudicial than probative. Alternatively, he argued that the trial court should "sanitize" the priors by excluding evidence of "specific underlying facts." The trial court denied the motion.
Defense counsel then once again asked the trial court to order that each prior be referred to only as "a felony conviction." The prosecutor indicated that he intended to impeach defendant with his 2008 conviction for robbery and his 2011 conviction for felony evading. He added that, at the same time *88as the felony evading conviction, defendant was also convicted of "misdemeanor auto theft and misdemeanor receiving a stolen vehicle"-"evading in a stolen car."
The trial court ruled: "[T]he People may impeach him with his [robbery] conviction [and with] his [felony evading] conviction. And they may ask him, isn't it true you took a vehicle ... without the owner's permission."
Accordingly, on direct, defendant admitted prior convictions for robbery and for evading a police officer. On cross, the prosecutor asked:
"Q. ... Counsel just said evading in 2011, but that was actually a felony reckless evading of a police officer; is that right?
"A. It was.
"Q. And in that same-or around that same period of time, you also engaged in knowingly having a stolen car, right?
"A. Well, no. I took a car without the owner's consent.
"Q. That's basically what I'm asking, yes?
"A. Okay. Yes."
The trial court instructed the jury with CALCRIM No. 316, as follows: "If you find that a witness has committed a crime or other misconduct, you may consider that fact only in evaluating the credibility of the witness's testimony. The fact that a witness may have committed a crime or other misconduct does not necessarily destroy or impair a witness's credibility. It is up to you to decide the weight of that fact and whether that fact makes the witness less believable."
B. Discussion .
A prior felony conviction involving moral turpitude is admissible to impeach a witness. ( Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (f)(4); Evid. Code, § 788 ;
*893People v. Anderson (2018)
It has long been the rule that " '[t]he scope of inquiry when a criminal defendant is impeached with evidence of a prior felony conviction does not extend to the facts of the underlying offense.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Shea (1995)
It also used to be the rule that other specific instances of misconduct, including a prior misdemeanor conviction, were not admissible to impeach. ( Evid. Code, § 787 ; People v. Lent (1975)
The admission for impeachment purposes of either (1) a prior felony conviction or (2) other prior misconduct is subject to the trial court's discretion to exclude evidence as more prejudicial than probative under Evidence Code section 352. ( People v. Anderson , supra , 5 Cal.5th at p. 407,
The rule that the conduct underlying a felony conviction is inadmissible to impeach ultimately derives from Code of Civil Procedure former section 2051, which provided that, other than a prior felony conviction, evidence of particular wrongful acts were inadmissible to attack or support a witness's credibility. ( People v. Amanacus , supra , 50 Cal. at pp. 234-235.) In 1963, when the Evidence Code was enacted, the rule was recodified in Evidence Code section 787. Under Wheeler , however, the Truth-in-Evidence provision trumps Evidence Code section 787, subject only to the trial court's discretion to exclude evidence under Evidence Code section 352. The inescapable conclusion is that now, the conduct underlying a felony conviction is admissible when it is relevant to impeach a witness, unless the trial court finds that it is more prejudicial than probative. Consistent with this view, in People v. Clark (2011)
Defendant argues that, despite Wheeler , the conduct underlying a felony conviction, when offered to impeach, is still inadmissible. He cites *90People v. Casares (2016)
The statement in Casares , however, was dictum. There, it was the defendant who sought to introduce evidence of the conduct underlying a witness's felony conviction. The witness had been convicted of murder, and this conviction was properly admitted to impeach him. Defense counsel also asked him, however, if he used a knife to commit the murder. The prosecution's objection to this was sustained. ( People v. Casares , supra , 62 Cal.4th at p. 829,
In many instances, the conduct underlying a felony adds nothing to the probative value of the felony, while at the same time it increases the prejudicial effect. This is true when the underlying conduct does not show dishonesty. For example, in Casares , the fact that the witness had a prior conviction for murder shed some light on his willingness to do evil, and therefore on whether he might lie on the stand. The additional fact that he committed the murder with a knife had no additional bearing on his honesty. However, it would tend to repulse the jury and to taint its evaluation of his testimony.
The same is true when the elements of the prior felony already show dishonesty. For example, the bare fact that a witness has a prior conviction for robbery is sufficient to show dishonesty. Additional details-e.g., regarding the nature of the force or fear involved or the nature of the property taken-are likely to be more prejudicial than probative.
We therefore accept-in these situations-that when a prior felony conviction has been introduced to impeach, ordinarily the trial court should exclude evidence of the underlying conduct. Moreover, we accept-again, in these situations-that the Truth-in-Evidence provision, which expressly preserves Evidence Code section 352, does not change this outcome.
Here, by contrast, the conduct underlying the felony added significant probative value. Defendant's prior felony conviction was for evading a police *91officer in violation of Vehicle Code section 2800.2. This is a crime of moral turpitude. ( People v. Dewey (1996)
Defendant nevertheless argues that the trial court abused its discretion under Evidence Code section 352, for two reasons.
First, defendant argues that his 2008 robbery conviction was already evidence of dishonesty, so that the evidence of his taking of a car was cumulative. The trial court could reasonably see things differently. "[E]vidence that a defendant committed a series of crimes is more probative of his credibility than a 'single lapse.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Clark , supra , 52 Cal.4th at p. 933,
*895Second, defendant argues that his taking of a car was prejudicially similar to the charged crime. " 'Although the similarity between the prior convictions and the charged offenses is a factor for the court to consider when balancing probative value against prejudice, it is not dispositive.' [Citation.]" ( People v. Edwards (2013)
Here, the trial court instructed the jury that it could consider the prior misconduct only in evaluating defendant's believability. "Any prejudice that the challenged information may have threatened must be deemed to have been prevented by the court's limiting instruction to the jury. We presume that jurors comprehend and accept the court's directions. [Citation.]" ( People v. Mickey (1991)
We therefore conclude that the trial court did not err by allowing the prosecution to impeach defendant with evidence that he took a car without the owner's permission.
*92II
III
DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
We concur:
MILLER, J.
CODRINGTON, J.
See footnote *, ante .
Reference
- Full Case Name
- The PEOPLE, and v. Edgar GUTIERREZ, and
- Cited By
- 19 cases
- Status
- Published