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People v. Mayfield1/2/1997
ffective Assistance of Counsel
Defendant contends that his trial counsel's performance at the guilt phase was constitutionally deficient because counsel (1) elicited evidence prejudicial to defendant; (2) failed to present exculpatory evidence that Sergeant Wolfley, not defendant, had possession of the gun when the fatal shot was fired; and (3) failed to object to inadmissible evidence and improper argument. We consider these contentions in turn.
To establish a violation of the constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel, a defendant must show that his counsel's performance was deficient when measured against the standard of a reasonably competent attorney, and that counsel's performance was prejudicial in the sense that it "so undermined the proper functioning of the adversarial process that the trial cannot be relied on as having produced a just result." ( Strickland v. Washington, (supra) , 466 U.S. 668, 686 [80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 692-693]; id. at pp. 686-694 [80 L. Ed. 2d at pp. 692-698]; see also People v. Wader (1993) 5 Cal. 4th 610, 636 [20 Cal. Rptr. 2d 788, 854 P.2d 80].) If a defendant has failed to show that the challenged actions of counsel were prejudicial, a reviewing court may reject the claim on that ground without determining whether counsel's performance was deficient. ( Strickland v. Washington, (supra) , 466 U.S. at p. 697 [80 L. Ed. 2d at pp. 699-700].) If the record contains no explanation for the challenged behavior, an appellate court will reject the claim of ineffective assistance "unless counsel was asked for an explanation and failed to provide one, or unless there simply could be no satisfactory explanation." ( People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal. 3d 412, 426 [152 Cal. Rptr. 732, 590 P.2d 859, 2 A.L.R.4th 1].)
1. Eliciting Prejudicial Evidence
Defendant contends that trial counsel elicited evidence prejudicial to defendant by (1) obtaining dismissal of a robbery count, thereby permitting defendant's impeachment with a prior robbery conviction; and (2) eliciting or permitting the prosecutor to elicit prejudicial testimony from prosecution witnesses Tyrone Thomas, Howard Bell, and Candette Wolfley.
During jury selection, the defense sought a ruling from the trial court on whether it would permit the prosecution to introduce evidence of defendant's prior felony convictions to impeach him in the event he testified. (See Evid. Code, § 788.) The trial court ruled that grand theft from the person and robbery (crimes of which defendant had been previously convicted) were both crimes of moral turpitude (see People v. Castro (1985) 38 Cal. 3d 301, 306, 313-316 [211 Cal. Rptr. 719, 696 P.2d 111]), but it reserved until the prosecution had presented its case-in-chief the question of whether the probative value of the prior convictions for impeachment outweighed the risk of undue prejudice (see id. at pp. 306-313; Evid. Code, § 352). After the prosecution had presented its case-in-chief, the trial court ruled that defendant could be impeached with his prior conviction for grand theft from the person, but not with his prior conviction for robbery. The court explained that the use of the prior robbery conviction for impeachment presented a very close question, but that it had decided not to permit its use for impeachment because the charges against defendant included robbery of Haverstick, based on the taking of Haverstick's keys, although the "main thrust" of the case was the charge of murder.
Immediately after the court announced its ruling, defense counsel made a motion for a judgment of acquittal (§ 1118.1) on the robbery charge on the ground of insufficiency of the evidence. The prosecutor inquired whether, if the trial cou
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