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People v. Castaneda6/27/2002
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
A jury found Eleno Castaneda guilty of receiving stolen property. On appeal, Castaneda contends the trial court erred by (1) admitting testimony of his statements to a police officer, in violation of Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda); (2) admitting testimony of his silence during the questioning as evidence of guilt; (3) instructing the jury on adoptive admissions (CALJIC No. 2.71.5); and (4) instructing the jury on false statements as evidence of consciousness of guilt (CALJIC No. 2.03). We agree that the trial court erred by instructing the jury on adoptive admissions, but we conclude the error was harmless. Castaneda's other claims are meritless. We affirm the judgment.
BACKGROUND
On October 1, 1998, Helen Dillon returned home from a four-day vacation and found that gold and diamond jewelry had been stolen from her home in Redwood City.
On October 5, 1998, Officer Gilbert Granado pulled over Castaneda for speeding and not maintaining his lane. During the stop, Granado searched Castaneda and found 20 to 30 pieces of jewelry in his pants pocket. The parties stipulated that the search was lawful because Castaneda was on parole. Granado asked Castaneda who owned the jewelry and where it came from. Castaneda said the jewelry was his, but did not answer Granado's questions about where he had gotten it and where he was going with it. Granado seized the jewelry with Castaneda's consent.
Granado proceeded to administer a sobriety test to Castaneda, and eventually arrested him for driving under the influence , but those facts were kept from the jury by stipulation. The jury heard the following testimony from Granado about the questions he asked before the arrest:
"Q: How did you inquire? What did you say?
"A: On several occasions throughout our encounter, I simply said something like, so, you're telling me you don't know where this property came from, or it's yours but you don't know where it came from, why do you have it, things of that nature, inquisitive questions.
"Q: Did Mr. Castaneda respond?
"A: At times, he would respond with `I don't know.' Other times, he just wouldn't respond at all.
"Q: Did he express any reaction to you, any facial reaction?
"A: Yeah, at one time. After a while, he just kind of smiled and looked at me. I just smiled back."
On October 7, 1998, Officer Donald Banks showed the jewelry to Dillon, who identified most of the pieces as those stolen from her home. Castaneda was arrested later that day for burglary. After his arrest, Castaneda was advised of his Miranda rights, and submitted to interviews on separate occasions with Officer Banks and with Detectives Mark Pollio and Michael Garmon. During his interview with Banks, Castaneda said he bought the jewelry from an unknown or unnamed person, and was taking it to show a potential buyer when Granado stopped him. During his interview with Pollio and Garmon, Castaneda claimed he bought the jewelry for $1,000 from someone he knew, but he refused to name the seller.
On June 4, 1999, an information was filed charging Castaneda with residential burglary and receiving stolen property. On July 7, 1999, an amended information was filed charging him with four prior "strike" offenses, four serious felony prior convictions,
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