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People v. Robinson12/11/2000
es evidence to prove intent under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b). The court in Von Villas, however, did not address the issue presented here, which deals with the contention that admissions used to prove identity that are made while committing an uncharged crime must meet the "unique signature" standard of Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b). Since Von Villas did not consider this issue, it is of no help to defendant. Furthermore, we also question the premise of the analysis in Von Villas, which appears to place Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b) limitations on the admissibility of admissions made in situations where the surrounding circumstances show an uncharged bad act. We believe the better approach is to allow the judge to use Evidence Code section 352 discretion, and to allow the judge to fashion a limiting instruction to deal with the specific situation.
Defendant also relies on People v. Karis, supra, 46 Cal.3d at pages 635-637, in which the reviewing court stated that a defendant's statements of future criminal conduct that did not relate to any completed crime or specific future crime might simply be statements offered to prove general propensity to commit criminal acts. The court noted that evidence of uncharged bad acts offered to prove propensity is inadmissible under Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b), which specifically prohibits propensity evidence. The court then stated that statements of possible future criminal conduct have a potential for prejudice in suggesting propensity to commit crime, and a trial court must therefore carefully examine such statements to see if they qualify as state-of-mind exceptions to the hearsay rule (Evid. Code, § 1250), as circumstantial evidence that defendant acted in conformity with his stated intent, and whether the probative value outweighs the prejudicial effect. (People v. Karis, supra, 46 Cal.3d at p. 636.) The court did not hold that a statement that qualifies as a state of mind exception to the hearsay rule is also subject to the requirements of Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b) if it is used circumstantially to prove identity.
The Karis court also noted that the People contended the statements were admissible as admissions, but the court expressly declined to reach the issue after finding the statements admissible under the state-of-mind exception. The court did state that an issue existed as to whether a statement made prior to the commission of a crime could be an admission unless a specific crime was contemplated when the statement was made, but declined to reach that issue also. We note that the statement at issue in the case at bar was made shortly after the commission of the murder, and after the body had been "dumped" in Los Angeles.
[The portions of this opinion that follow (parts G - H) are deleted from publication.]
G. Alleged Prosecutorial Misconduct
Defendant contends that the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct by eliciting evidence of uncharged acts, by misstating the law during argument to shift the burden of proof and to vitiate the presumption of innocence, by asserting in argument factual matters not supported by the evidence, by misstating the evidence in argument, by misusing prior choking incidents as disposition evidence, by attacking the integrity of defense counsel during argument by informing the jury that they could consider the fact the defense expert was being compensated for his testimony, and by appealing to the jury's sympathy for the murder victim and her family. We find that none of these alleged incidents of misconduct were prejudicial and did not deprive defendant of a fair trial.
1. Eliciting T
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