Richardson v. Superior Court of Tulare County

183 P.3d 1199, 43 Cal. 4th 1040, 77 Cal. Rptr. 3d 226, 2008 Cal. LEXIS 6209
CourtCalifornia Supreme Court
DecidedMay 22, 2008
DocketS127275
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 183 P.3d 1199 (Richardson v. Superior Court of Tulare County) 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
Richardson v. Superior Court of Tulare County, 183 P.3d 1199, 43 Cal. 4th 1040, 77 Cal. Rptr. 3d 226, 2008 Cal. LEXIS 6209 (Cal. 2008).

Opinions

Opinion

MORENO, J.

This writ proceeding is related to petitioner Charles Keith Richardson’s automatic appeal from a judgment of death. (People v. Richardson (2008) 43 Cal.4th 959 [77 Cal.Rptr.3d 163, 183 P.3d 1146].) Here, we review the denial of petitioner’s postconviction motion under Penal Code section 14051 for DNA testing of certain hair samples that were admitted at his capital trial.2 Our review of the trial court’s ruling turns upon the applicable standard of review and the interpretation of two key statutory phrases. We conclude that the applicable standard of review for rulings under section 1405 is abuse of discretion. Having so concluded, we further conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it denied petitioner’s motion on the ground that he failed to demonstrate that “[t]he requested DNA testing results would raise a reasonable probability that, in light of all the evidence, [his] verdict or sentence [1044]*1044would have been more favorable if the results of DNA testing had been available at the time of conviction.” (§ 1405, subd. (f)(5).)

I. STATEMENT OF THE CASE

On September 12, 1989, petitioner was charged in an amended information with one count of murder. (§ 187.) The victim was 11-year-old April Holley. The information further alleged felony-murder special circumstances for burglary, rape, sodomy and lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(12).) Petitioner was charged with residential burglary (§ 459) of the Holley residence and forcible rape (§ 261), lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14 (§ 288, subd. (b)), and sodomy (§ 286, subd. (c)), all of these crimes also allegedly committed against April Holley. On April 11, 1992, petitioner was convicted by a jury of all counts, and all special circumstances were found to be true. On September 8, 1992, the jury returned a death verdict. The trial court declined to modify the verdict (§ 190.4, subd. (e)), and sentenced petitioner to death. Petitioner’s conviction was automatically appealed to this court. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11, subd. (a); § 1239, subd. (b).)3 We affirmed the judgment and sentence in petitioner’s appeal. (People v. Richardson, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1039.)

As explained more fully in our opinion in the automatic appeal, the victim was found dead in the bathtub of the residence she shared with her mother and sister. Certain hair samples were recovered from debris in the bathtub and from the victim’s clothing; some of these hairs were identified by prosecution experts as consistent with petitioner’s hair. (People v. Richardson, supra, 43 Cal.4th at pp. 980-981.)

On May 24, 2004, petitioner filed a motion pursuant to section 1405 seeking DNA testing of four pubic hairs identified in his motion as exhibits 4-A, 16-A, 16-B, and 16-C, which were admitted at petitioner’s trial. Two hair analysis experts had testified for the prosecution. One of them, Steven O’Clair, opined that exhibit 16-A, a pubic hair recovered from the debris in the bathtub where the victim was found, was consistent with petitioner’s hair, as was exhibit 16-C, another pubic hair removed from the bathtub. O’Clair also testified that exhibit 4-A, a pubic hair from a towel stuffed into the bathtub drain, was consistent with petitioner’s hair, as was exhibit 16-B, another pubic hair removed from the bathtub. The second prosecution expert, Charles Morton, agreed that exhibits 16-A and 16-C were consistent with petitioner’s hair. Morton, however, disagreed with O’Clair’s conclusion that [1045]*1045exhibits 4-A and 16-B were also consistent with petitioner’s hair. Morton testified that exhibits 4-A and 16-B were consistent with hair from the victim’s mother. Petitioner presented his own hair experts, Stephan Schliebe and Peter Barnett, who disputed the conclusions of the prosecution experts. (People v. Richardson, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 981.)

In his motion for DNA testing of the hair, petitioner noted that a number of courts have approved the use of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis on pubic hair. He contended that he was entitled to an analysis of the four hair samples at issue because the hairs were the only physical evidence connecting him to the crime. He argued that the testing would “raise a reasonable probability that [his] verdict or sentence would have been more favorable” had such testing been available at the time of his trial.

The prosecution argued that petitioner had failed to satisfy section 1405’s requirements that the movant make a prima facie showing of the materiality of the evidence sought to be tested, and had also failed to meet the threshold for reasonable probability. (§ 1405, subd. (f)(4), (5).) The prosecution contended that the prima facie case of materiality had not been made because “[i]f the pubic hairs were tested and found not to have Petitioner’s DNA, that fact alone does not prove Petitioner’s innocence because of the vast array of other evidence linking him to the murder .... If DNA analysis reveals Petitioner as the DNA donor on the pubic hairs, it will further inculpate him. If DNA testing excludes Petitioner as a donor—the only other possibility—it will provide no new information.” Similarly, the prosecution argued that the evidence supporting petitioner’s conviction was such that, even if DNA testing revealed he was not the DNA donor of the pubic hairs, there was no reasonable probability that he would have obtained a more favorable result had the testing been available at the time of his trial.

At the hearing of petitioner’s motion, the trial court agreed with the prosecution and denied the motion. Petitioner then filed the instant petition for writ of mandate or prohibition. We issued an order to show cause.

H. ANALYSIS

A. Relevant Subdivisions of Section 1405

For our purposes, the relevant subdivisions of section 1405 are subdivisions (a), (f), and (j). Subdivision (a) provides: “A person who was convicted of a felony and is currently serving a term of imprisonment may make a written motion before the trial court that entered the judgment of conviction in his or her case, for performance of forensic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing.”

[1046]*1046Section 1405, subdivision (f) directs the trial court to grant the motion for DNA testing if eight conditions are met. At issue are the fourth and fifth conditions. Subdivision (f)(4) provides: “The convicted person has made a prima facie showing that the evidence sought to be tested is material to the issue of the convicted person’s identity as the perpetrator of, or accomplice to, the crime, special circumstance, or enhancement allegation that resulted in the conviction or sentence.” Subdivision (f)(5) requires the moving party to establish that “[t]he requested DNA testing results would raise a reasonable probability that, in light of all the evidence, the convicted person’s verdict or sentence would have been more favorable if the results of DNA testing had been available at the time of conviction. The court in its discretion may consider any evidence whether or not it was introduced at trial.”

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
183 P.3d 1199, 43 Cal. 4th 1040, 77 Cal. Rptr. 3d 226, 2008 Cal. LEXIS 6209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/richardson-v-superior-court-of-tulare-county-cal-2008.