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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
olfley that the men in the store had a gun. Also, because Thomas testified and was subjected to cross-examination about the basis for his belief that defendant was armed with a gun, the usual reasons for excluding hearsay evidence as unreliable were not present.
2. Howard Bell's Urine Test
The prosecution called as a witness David Blackburn, who testified that he is a forensic laboratory technician employed by the San Bernardino Sheriff's crime laboratory. Defense counsel then objected that it appeared the prosecutor was proposing to impeach his own witness, Howard Bell, and that this was improper procedure. The prosecutor replied that evidence of Bell's PCP intoxication was relevant to his ability to perceive. The trial court overruled the defense objection. Blackburn testified that he had analyzed a urine sample taken from Howard Bell; and that the test results were positive for phencyclidine, commonly known as PCP. The prosecutor then inquired whether, according to the laboratory records, another technician who was no longer employed by the laboratory had previously analyzed the same sample. The defense objected on hearsay grounds, but the trial court overruled the objection. The witness answered that the laboratory records so indicated. Without objection, the prosecutor then inquired whether that analysis had "also come back positive," and the witness replied that it had.
Defendant contends, first, that the trial court erred in overruling his objection that the entire testimony was inadmissible because its purpose was to impeach the prosecution's own witness. We find no error. The rule in this state is that a party may impeach his or her own witness. (Evid. Code, § 785; People v. Gordon (1973) 10 Cal. 3d 460, 474, fn. 8 [110 Cal. Rptr. 906, 516 P.2d 298].) Defendant also argues that the evidence was irrelevant because Bell's ability to perceive was not a contested issue and because no evidence was ever introduced to establish exactly when the urine sample was obtained from Bell or that the concentration of PCP in that sample was sufficient to impair perception or memory. No objection having been made on any of these grounds at trial, the issues are not preserved for review. (Evid. Code, § 353, subd. (a).)
Defendant contends, next, that the trial court erred in admitting, over a hearsay objection, evidence of the results of the analysis by the technician who did not testify. Assuming for argument's sake that the trial court erred, defendant was not prejudiced. Evidence of the previous analysis by the other technician was merely cumulative of evidence of the results of the analysis performed by the technician who testified, and the latter evidence was uncontradicted. On cross-examination, the defense sought to challenge the significance of the positive test result, but the defense never challenged the validity of the test result as such.
3. Gunshot Residue Test
Norman Wallis, a criminalist employed by the San Bernardino Sheriff's crime laboratory, testified for the prosecution that he had analyzed a gunshot residue kit. Over defense objection on hearsay grounds, Wallis testified that a laboratory report, which Wallis had not written, stated that the kit had been collected at the county morgue by "Mr. Gregonis." Wallis then testified to the results of his analysis.
Defendant now contends that the trial court erred in overruling his hearsay objection to statements in the laboratory report about the source of the kit. We agree that the trial court erred, but we conclude that defendant was not prejudiced. Daniel Gregonis had already testified that he attended the autopsy of Sergeant Wolfley and that at that time he had collected
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