People v. Campbell

137 Cal. App. 3d 867, 187 Cal. Rptr. 340, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 2178
California Court of Appeal·Decided November 30, 1982·No. Crim. 11053·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Opinion

BLEASE, J.

Defendant Carl Campbell contends on appeal that his prosecution for three narcotic offenses 1 was barred by the statutory grant of “transactional immunity” conferred by Penal Code section 1324 when it was invoked by the district attorney to compel his testimony in another felony case. The People contend defendant was given a constitutionally adequate substitute of “use immunity” by the court in the other case and by the trial court here which precluded the use of the testimony.

We reverse the conviction pursuant to the mandate of Penal Code section 1324. We hold that where, as here, the defendant properly invokes the privilege against self-incrimination in a felony proceeding and is compelled by invocation of section 1324 to testify to matters which tend to incriminate him as to presently charged offenses, he may not be prosecuted for them, notwithstanding that his testimony is not used against him.

Facts

The charges in this case were filed on January 21, 1980. On the following April 18th, defendant was called as a witness in the case of People v. Hill, 2 charging a felony assault by Hill upon Barbara Dooley on August 4, 1979, at 1914 Fourth Street, Sacramento. When called to testify as a witness for the prosecution, defendant invoked his 5th Amendment privilege and refused to answer. His counsel advised the court of the pending drug charges and said the requested testimony related to them. The prosecuting attorney invoked Penal Code section 1324 and the court granted defendant “immunity as provided in *871 Section 1324 ... in that any testimony given at this trial, either prior to his invoking the 5th Amendment or subsequent thereto . . . shall not be used against him in any way whatsoever in any prosecution.” 3 Defendant was then ordered to testify.

In response to questions by prosecuting and defense counsel defendant testified that he knew Dooley and that he lived at 1914 Fourth Street on the dates of the present charges and prior thereto. He also testified that Dooley had stayed at his apartment the night she was stabbed and was a drug user. Defense counsel attempted to challenge Campbell’s credibility as affected by the pending charges.

At the outset of the trial in this case the defendant raised the bar of section 1324. The court denied the claim but directed that none of Campbell’s testimony in the Hill case be used in his trial.

Sacramento Police Officer Thomas Backer then testified that on October 30, 1979, Barbara Dooley, as a confidential operator, attempted to purchase heroin from defendant at apartment B, 1914 Fourth Street. Backet watched Dooley enter the apartment and shortly thereafter leave the apartment. Using binoculars, Backer observed defendant walk out of the apartment, go upstairs to the second landing and thrust his hand forward and then return to the apartment. Backer went to the second landing and recovered, from a planter box, a baggie containing 10 bindles of cocaine and 19 balloons of heroin. Dooley testified she entered the apartment and attempted to purchase heroin from defendant. He informed her she would have to inject it inside the apartment. She turned down the offer and left. She also testified to having been to apartment B on more than 50 occasions and having purchased heroin from defendant there. The manager of the apartment complex testified that defendant had lived there for the past two years.

*872 Discussion

I

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution precludes a witness from being compelled to give testimony which might subject him to criminal liability. This privilege against self-incrimination has been construed not to prevent compulsory disclosure of criminal evidence but to protect against punishment for the revelations. (Ullman v. United States (1956) 350 U.S. 422, 438-439 [100 L.Ed. 511, 524-525, 76 S.Ct. 497, 53 A.L.R.2d 1008].)To carry out this purpose two kinds of immunity, “use immunity” and “transactional immunity,” have been constitutionally sanctioned. “ ‘[U]se’ immunity protects a witness only against the actual use of his compelled testimony and its fruits; ‘transactional immunity’ protects him against later prosecution related to matters about which he testified.” (Witkin, Cal. Evidence (2d ed., 1982 pocket supp.) Witnesses, § 928, p. 508.) They are thus distinguished by the nature of the prohibitions which attach to the compelled testimony.

The phrase “transactional immunity” stems from the language of statutes enacted to implement the holding of Counselman v. Hitchcock (1892) 142 U.S. 547, 585-586 [35 L.Ed.2d 1110, 1121-1122, 12 S.Ct. 195], which held that “a statutory enactment, to be valid, must afford absolute immunity against future prosecution for the offense to which the question relates.” In Brown v. Walker (1896) 161 U.S. 591, 594 [40 L.Ed. 819-820, 16 S.Ct. 644], the court approved the constitutionality of the federal Compulsory Testimony Act of 1893, drafted to comply with Counselman. (Kastigar v. United States (1972) 406 U.S. 441, 451 [32 L.Ed.2d 212, 220, 92 S. Ct. 1653].) It provided that the witness shall not be prosecuted “on account of any transaction, matter or thing, concerning which he may testify, or produce evidence, . . . .” (Act of Feb. 11, 1893, ch. 83, 27 Stat. 443, repealed by the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970, Pub.L. No. 91-452, § 245, 84 Stat. 931; italics added.) This statute provided the label and model for transactional immunity statutes. (See Ullmann v. United States, supra, 350 U.S. 422, 438-439 [100 L.Ed. 511, 524-525]; Kastigar v. United States, supra, at pp. 451-452 [32 L.Ed.2d at pp. 220-221]; Witkin, Cal. Evidence (2d ed. 1966) Witnesses, §§ 927-929, pp. 861-864.)

“Use immunity” was constitutionally sanctioned in Kastigar v. United States, supra, 406 U.S. 441, 452-453 [32 L.Ed.2d 212, 221-222], which held that “immunity from the use of compelled testimony and evidence derived therefrom is coextensive with the scope of the privilege. ” It accomplished this, says Kastigar, by insuring that “the testimony cannot lead to the infliction of criminal penalties on the witness . . . .” (Ibid.) “While a grant of immunity must afford protection commensurate with that afforded by the privilege, it *873 need not be broader.

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People v. Campbell, 137 Cal. App. 3d 867, 187 Cal. Rptr. 340, 1982 Cal. App. LEXIS 2178 (Cal. Ct. App. 1982).

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