People v. Harmon

7 Cal. App. 4th 845, 9 Cal. Rptr. 2d 265
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJune 23, 1992
DocketB056326
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 7 Cal. App. 4th 845 (People v. Harmon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Harmon, 7 Cal. App. 4th 845, 9 Cal. Rptr. 2d 265 (Cal. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

7 Cal.App.4th 845 (1992)
9 Cal. Rptr.2d 265

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
RONNIE LAVELLE HARMON, Defendant and Appellant.

Docket No. B056326.

Court of Appeals of California, Second District, Division Seven.

June 23, 1992.

*848 COUNSEL

Maureen J. Shanahan, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Daniel E. Lungren, Attorney General, George Williamson, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Carol Wendelin Pollack, Acting Assistant Attorney General, John R. Gorey and Donald E. de Nicola, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

OPINION

WOODS (Fred), J.

Convicted by a jury of burglary (Pen. Code,[1] 459) and grand theft (§ 487, subd. 1), appellant claims evidentiary and instructional errors, judicial and prosecutor misconduct, and ineffective assistance of counsel require reversal. We conclude these claims are without merit and affirm the judgment.

PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

Appellant and Stacy Alan Daniels (Daniels) were jointly charged with burglary and grand theft. Five prior felony convictions (§ 667.5, subd. (b)) were alleged regarding appellant and one regarding Daniels. During jury selection Daniels pleaded guilty to burglary. A jury convicted appellant of burglary and grand theft. Appellant waived jury regarding the felony conviction allegations and the trial court found four true. Appellant was sentenced to a six-year state prison term.

There being no insufficiency of evidence claim, we synopsize the evidence and do so with a perspective favoring the judgment. (People v. Barnes (1986) 42 Cal.3d 284, 303-304 [228 Cal. Rptr. 228, 721 P.2d 110].)

On June 29, 1990, Daniels entered a Burbank Footlocker store and after looking at expensive Nike jogging suits asked the clerk about certain athletic shoes. When the clerk went to the rear storeroom, Daniels grabbed jogging suits worth approximately $1,200 and ran from the store, through an alley, to appellant's parked car. A witness, seated in her car waiting for her boyfriend, saw and heard Daniels running, his arms full of jogging suits, with plastic tags loudly clicking. She saw him open the passenger door of appellant's brown, hatchback car, shove in the clothes, and enter. Appellant quickly drove away.

*849 Almost immediately the theft was discovered and a description of Daniels, appellant, the getaway car, and the stolen jogging suits was broadcast over the police radio. A detective heard the broadcast, saw the getaway car and followed it to appellant's apartment. Appellant and Daniels were arrested and all the stolen jogging suits recovered from appellant's car.

Appellant did not testify. The only defense witness, appellant's girlfriend, testified that appellant's car could not start quickly or go fast.

DISCUSSION

1. Appellant contends the court erred in admitting a tape-recorded conversation between Daniels and appellant.

After Daniels and appellant were arrested they were placed in a police car. A recorder, hidden in the trunk, was turned on and recorded their conversation. An edited tape and transcript were admitted into evidence.

(1) Appellant, who at trial objected on relevancy grounds, contends admission of the tape and transcript violated his Sixth Amendment rights of confrontation and cross-examination.

We do not decide the merits of this contention because appellant did not object to the evidence on this ground in the trial court. (Evid. Code, § 353; People v. Simon (1989) 208 Cal. App.3d 841, 849 [256 Cal. Rptr. 373].) "[Q]uestions relating to the admissibility of evidence will not be reviewed on appeal in the absence of a specific and timely objection in the trial court on the ground sought to be urged on appeal." (People v. Rogers (1978) 21 Cal.3d 542, 548 [146 Cal. Rptr. 732, 579 P.2d 1048].) (Italics added.)

2. Appellant contends the trial court erred in failing to give accomplice instructions concerning the extrajudicial statements of Daniels.

(2) When there is "testimony of an accomplice" (§ 1111) the trial court has a duty to give appropriate accomplice instructions. (People v. Belton (1979) 23 Cal.3d 516 [153 Cal. Rptr. 195, 591 P.2d 485].)

Appellant claims the trial court, by failing to give any accomplice instructions, breached this duty. Appellant is mistaken for two reasons.

*850 First, although Daniels was clearly an accomplice, Daniels did not testify[2] and thus there was no "testimony of an accomplice." (§ 1111.) Although Belton extended "accomplice testimony" to include prior inconsistent statements of an accomplice-witness (23 Cal.3d at p. 526), an extrajudicial statement by a nonwitness is not testimony. (People v. Sully (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1195, 1230 [283 Cal. Rptr. 144, 812 P.2d 163].)

Second, trial counsel for appellant introduced statements by Daniels in favor of appellant. ("Q: Did he [Daniels] tell you that Mr. Harmon [appellant] didn't have anything to do with this? A. [Detective Pusl]: Yes.") When an accomplice gives testimony favoring a defendant it is error to give accomplice instructions, unless requested by the defendant. (People v. Graham (1978) 83 Cal. App.3d 736, 742-744 [149 Cal. Rptr. 6].) Appellant made no such request.

3. Appellant contends the trial court erred in giving three consciousness of guilt instructions.

The trial court gave CALJIC Nos. 2.03[3] (consciousness of guilt-falsehood), 2.04[4] (efforts by defendant to fabricate evidence), and 2.52[5] (flight after crime).

(3) Appellant contends giving these instructions was error for three reasons: (1) no evidence justified them; (2) the instructions are argumentative; and (3) the instructions are impermissibly "pinpoint instructions." Appellant's contention is frivolous.

The 19-page transcript of appellant's recorded conversation with Daniels fully supports the giving of CALJIC Nos. 2.03 and 2.04. During this *851 conversation appellant and Daniels contrived a defense for appellant which appellant then repeated to the police. The concocted story was that they were strangers to each other and Daniels simply offered appellant $10 to give him and his "laundry" a ride. Similarly, there was ample evidence of "flight" to support CALJIC No. 2.52.

Appellant's argumentative and "pinpoint" assertions are answered by People v. Bacigalupo (1991) 1 Cal.4th 103, 127-128 [2 Cal. Rptr.2d 335, 820 P.2d 559] (CALJIC Nos. 2.52 and 2.03 not argumentative or biased) and People v. Kelly (1992) 1 Cal.4th 495 [3 Cal. Rptr.2d 677, 822 P.2d 385] (CALJIC No. 2.03 not a "pinpoint" instruction).

4. Appellant contends the trial court committed misconduct.

a. Advising the jury Daniels pled guilty.

(4) When the trial started there were two defendants, appellant and Daniels.

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7 Cal. App. 4th 845, 9 Cal. Rptr. 2d 265, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-harmon-calctapp-1992.