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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
fendant was 15 years old, his mother was badly injured in a car accident. She spent weeks in the hospital and had recurring back problems requiring additional hospitalizations and surgery. Defendant telephoned his mother while she was in the hospital, and he helped with the cooking and cleaning at home in her absence.
Defendant has a son of his own, Dennis Junior, who is being raised by the child's maternal grandparents. Defendant is a loving father to his son. When defendant was convicted of crimes, his family did not turn away from him but tried to counsel and assist him. As an adult, defendant has had some periods of full-time employment.
Defendant has been "slow" and has had "emotional problems" all his life that may be the result of brain damage in childhood.
II. PRETRIAL PROCEEDINGS
Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his pretrial motion to sever the counts charging offenses against William Haverstick from the remaining counts and that this error denied him his federal constitutional rights to due process of law, an impartial jury, and a reliable guilt determination in a capital case (U.S. Const., 5th, 6th, 8th, & 14th Amends.). We reject this contention.
As defendant concedes, the offenses charged in the information satisfied all statutory requirements for joinder. (See § 954.) Therefore, we review the trial court's ruling under the deferential abuse of discretion standard. ( People v. Davis (1995) 10 Cal. 4th 463, 508 [41 Cal. Rptr. 2d 826, 896 P.2d 119].) To establish an abuse of discretion, defendant must make a clear showing, based on the record before the trial court when it denied the severance motion, that joinder of these offenses presented a substantial danger of prejudice. (Ibid.)
To determine whether joinder posed a substantial risk of prejudice, we inquire first whether evidence of the charged offenses would have been cross-admissible in separate trials. If so, then "any inference of prejudice is dispelled." ( People v. Balderas (1985) 41 Cal. 3d 144, 172 [222 Cal. Rptr. 184, 711 P.2d 480]; accord, People v. Memro (1995) 11 Cal. 4th 786, 850 [47 Cal. Rptr. 2d 219, 905 P.2d 1305].)
Based on the record of the preliminary hearing, which was the record before the trial court when it denied severance, the trial court could reasonably conclude that in a separate trial of the Haverstick offenses, evidence of the earlier offenses--that is, the murder of Sergeant Wolfley, the attempted murder of Officer Cirilo, the theft of Sergeant Wolfley's gun, and the deadly weapon assaults on Officers Cirilo and Pierson--would have been admissible to establish defendant's motive for entering Haverstick's residence, shooting Haverstick, and holding him hostage. In a separate trial on the non-Haverstick charges, moreover, evidence of statements by defendant describing his encounter with Sergeant Wolfley would have been admissible. Because defendant made some of those statements during the telephone conversations that occurred while he was inside the Haverstick residence, it is likely that evidence of the circumstances surrounding those statements would also have been received. Thus, most if not all of the evidence would have been cross-admissible.
Furthermore, to establish prejudice defendant must show more than the absence of cross-admissibility of evidence. He must show also, for example, that evidence of guilt was significantly weaker as to one group of offenses, or that one group of offenses was significantly more inflammatory than the other. ( People v. Sandoval (1992) 4 Cal. 4th 155, 172-173 [14 Cal. Rptr. 2d 342, 841 P.2d 862].) Defendant has shown neither. The prosecution's evidence
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