People v. Markham

775 P.2d 1042, 49 Cal. 3d 63, 260 Cal. Rptr. 273, 1989 Cal. LEXIS 1529
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedJuly 24, 1989
DocketS009472. Crim. 25539
StatusPublished
Cited by103 cases

This text of 775 P.2d 1042 (People v. Markham) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Markham, 775 P.2d 1042, 49 Cal. 3d 63, 260 Cal. Rptr. 273, 1989 Cal. LEXIS 1529 (Cal. 1989).

Opinions

Opinion

EAGLESON, J.

In People v. Jimenez (1978) 21 Cal.3d 595, 605 [147 Cal.Rptr. 172, 580 P.2d 672], this court first adopted “as a judicially declared rule of criminal procedure” the requirement that at trial the People prove the voluntariness of a defendant’s confession beyond a reasonable doubt. The United States Supreme Court had earlier held that the federal Constitution required only that the prosecution prove a confession voluntary by a preponderance of the evidence. (Lego v. Twomey (1972) 404 U.S. 477, 489 [30 L.Ed.2d 618, 627, 92 S.Ct. 619].)1

We granted review in this case to determine whether article I, section 28, subdivision (d) of the California Constitution (hereafter section 28(d))— commonly referred to as the “truth-in-evidence law” and adopted in 1982 as part-and-parcel of the ballot initiative popularly known as Proposition 8—has abrogated the Jimenez rule requiring a greater degree of proof of voluntariness than its federal counterpart.2

In conformance with the principles announced in People v. May (1988) 44 Cal.3d 309 [243 Cal.Rptr. 369, 748 P.2d 307], and In re Lance W. (1985) 37 Cal.3d 873 [210 Cal.Rptr. 631, 694 P.2d 744], we conclude that the Jimenez rule has been abrogated by section 28(d).

Facts

On the evening of June 18, 1984, two men robbed the Pacific Drugstore in Oxnard. Pharmacist Jue was unable to identify defendant as one of the [66]*66robbers. Ms. Kato, a patron, had been held with a knife to her throat by the taller of the two robbers during the episode. She was unable to identify defendant from a photographic lineup on the day of the robbery, but later identified him at the preliminary hearing as the shorter of the two robbers, although indicating she was not “absolutely sure.” Another witness, Mrs. Ramos, was able to tentatively identify defendant from the photographic array.

Kato testified that during the robbery she heard the shorter robber state to Jue, “I need some Valiums or Thorazine.” Jue testified the taller robber demanded “Dilaudid, Valium and the money in the till.” The shorter robber then accompanied Jue to the rear of the store, where Jue gave him a bottle of Valium tablets. Jue recalled that the shorter robber “kind of apologized,” stating that if he could he would return to repay him. Jue also turned over the money from the cash register to the robbers.

Defendant was arrested the following day by Officer Veto, who believed defendant was then under the influence of a depressant drug. (Pen. Code, § 647, subd. (f)-) Detective McCowan interviewed defendant two hours later, after first advising him of his Miranda rights (Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436) and obtaining a waiver of those rights. Although it appeared to Detective McCowan that defendant was under the influence of some drug, the detective believed defendant understood his rights, and that his waiver was knowing and intelligent. McCowan based his conclusions in part on defendant’s “logically consistent” answers to the questions asked. At no point during the ensuing interview did defendant ever indicate a desire to speak to a lawyer.

Detective McCowan told defendant that he had been tentatively identified as a participant in the drugstore robbery. Defendant then admitted to McCowan that he had obtained some Valium pills and change in the robbery, but claimed he was not the robber who had used a weapon. Defendant also stated he had told the pharmacist he would try to pay him back if he could. Evidence of these admissions was introduced over defense objection at the preliminary hearing. The magistrate ruled that the federal preponderance-of-the-evidence standard (see Lego v. Twomey, supra, 404 U.S. at p. 489 [30 L.Ed.2d at p. 627]) governed the determination of whether defendant’s waiver of his Miranda rights was knowing, intelligent and voluntary. The magistrate indicated that if the state reasonable doubt standard applied (see People v. Jimenez, supra, 21 Cal. 3d at p. 606), his ruling would have been otherwise. Defendant was bound over to superior court for trial on charges of robbery (Pen. Code, § 211) and burglary (Pen. Code, § 459).

After denial of a motion to set aside the information (Pen. Code, § 995), the matter was submitted to the court for decision on the preliminary [67]*67hearing transcript (see Bunnell v. Superior Court (1975) 13 Cal. 3d 592, 602-604 [119 Cal.Rptr. 302, 531 P.2d 1086]), subject to a renewed objection to admission of defendant’s incriminating statement. The trial court overruled the objection on the ground that Proposition 8 mandated use of the federal standard of proof by a preponderance of the evidence for determining the voluntariness of waivers. The court determined that the prosecutor had met that burden in establishing defendant’s waiver as knowing and voluntary, and found defendant guilty as charged.3

The Court of Appeal affirmed on grounds that the principles of Lance W„ dealing with suppression of evidence under the Fourth Amendment, are equally applicable to suppression of evidence on Fifth Amendment grounds, and that the “truth-in-evidence law” is applicable to procedural aspects of self-incrimination.

Discussion

Section 28 (d) of the California Constitution provides: “Except as provided by statute hereafter enacted by a two-thirds vote of the membership in each house of the Legislature, relevant evidence shall not be excluded in any criminal proceeding, including pretrial and postconviction motions and [68]*68hearings, or iii any trial or hearing of a juvenile for a criminal offense, whether heard in juvenile or adult court. Nothing in this section shall affect any existing statutory rule of evidence relating to privilege or hearsay, or Evidence Code, Sections 352, 782 or 1103. Nothing in this section shall affect any existing statutory or constitutional right of the press.”

In In re Lance W., supra, 37 Cal.3d 873, this court held that the adoption of section 28(d) abrogated California’s vicarious exclusionary rule and instead required application of the federal rule denying such standing. We explained that: “[¶]n the absence of express statutory authority therefor courts may not exclude evidence seized in violation of either the state or federal Constitution unless exclusion is compelled by the federal Constitution. ... [¶] Implicit in the limitation on the courts’ power to exclude relevant evidence to the enumerated statutory exceptions is a limitation on the power of the court to create nonstatutory exclusionary rules, whether denominated rules of procedure, rules of evidence, or substantive rules, for the exclusion of unlawfully seized evidence if those rules afford greater protection to a criminal defendant than does the Fourth Amendment.” (Id., at pp. 888-889, fn. omitted.)

In 1988 we decided People v. May, supra,

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
775 P.2d 1042, 49 Cal. 3d 63, 260 Cal. Rptr. 273, 1989 Cal. LEXIS 1529, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-markham-cal-1989.