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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
e tactical decision. Without the evidence, the jury was presented with a conflict between Roy Mayfield and Detective Amicone as to whether any statement at all was made. With the evidence, the jury would have been presented with a conflict between Roy Mayfield and Detective Amicone only as to the precise contents of the statement. Given that Detective Amicone had made a contemporaneous record of the statement by means of his report, while Roy Mayfield had not, and that Roy Mayfield could not remember which officers he spoke to and other details surrounding the statement, counsel may reasonably have concluded that the jury would surely resolve this conflict in the prosecution's favor.
We conclude that defendant has failed to demonstrate that counsel's performance was deficient when measured against the standard of a reasonably competent attorney. (See Strickland v. Washington (1984) 466 U.S. 668, 686 [80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 692-693, 104 S. Ct. 2052].)
J. Foundation for Expert Opinion
Before permitting Dr. Root, the autopsy surgeon, to testify as a prosecution witness on rebuttal, the trial court held a hearing out of the jury's presence. (See Evid. Code, § 402-403.) At the hearing, the prosecutor asked Dr. Root to assume that the gunpowder range of Sergeant Wolfley's gun was 30 to 36 inches and that Sergeant Wolfley was shot in the manner to which defendant had testified, with both of Sergeant Wolfley's hands on the gun and defendant's hands over Sergeant Wolfley's hands. Given these assumed facts, the prosecutor asked Dr. Root to give an expert opinion on whether he would necessarily expect to find gunpowder stippling or tattooing around the wound. Dr. Root testified that in his opinion it would be anatomically impossible for Sergeant Wolfley to have held the gun in both hands so that it was aimed toward his face and yet beyond the range at which gunpowder residue would cause stippling or tattooing, and therefore he would necessarily expect to find stippling or tattooing around the wound. Overruling defense objections that it was not a subject proper for expert testimony and that Dr. Root was not qualified to give an opinion on the subject, the trial court permitted the prosecution to introduce Dr. Root's testimony as rebuttal evidence.
We reject defendant's contention on appeal that the trial court erred in so ruling and that the error violated defendant's federal constitutional rights to due process of law and to a reliable guilt verdict in a capital case (U.S. Const., 8th & 14th Amends.).
Whether a particular subject is a proper one for expert opinion and whether a particular expert is qualified to give an opinion on that subject are closely related issues. An expert is permitted to offer an opinion on "a subject that is sufficiently beyond common experience that the opinion of an expert would assist the trier of fact." (Evid. Code, § 801, subd. (a); see People v. Cole (1956) 47 Cal. 2d 99, 103 [301 P.2d 854, 56 A.L.R.2d 1435].) And a particular expert is sufficiently qualified if "the witness has sufficient skill or experience in the field so that his [or her] testimony would be likely to assist the jury in the search for the truth." ( Mann v. Cracchiolo (1985) 38 Cal. 3d 18, 38 [210 Cal. Rptr. 762, 694 P.2d 1134].) A trial court's ruling permitting expert testimony is reviewed on appeal under the deferential abuse of discretion standard. ( People v. Chavez (1985) 39 Cal. 3d 823, 828 [218 Cal. Rptr. 49, 705 P.2d 372]; People v. Busch (1961) 56 Cal. 2d 868, 878 [16 Cal. Rptr. 898, 366 P.2d 314].)
Here, the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it determined that Dr. Root, an experienced forensic pathologist, was qualified to give an
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