Jones v. Superior Court

• Decision Date: 22 January 2004
• Docket Number: No. D042335.,D042335.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: Jed JONES, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of San Diego County, Respondent; The People, Real Party in Interest.

8 Cal.Rptr.3d 687

115 Cal.App.4th 48

Jed JONES, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of San Diego County, Respondent The People, Real Party in Interest.

No. D042335.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1.

January 22, 2004.

John G. Phillips, San Diego, for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

Bonnie M. Dumanis, District Attorney, Anthony Lovett, Kim Thoa-Hoang and Laura E. Tanney, Deputy District Attorneys, for Real Party in Interest.

NARES, Acting P.J.

This case involves interpretation of the criminal discovery chapter (Pen.Code,¹ § 1054 et seq., hereafter occasionally referred to as the Criminal Discovery Statute) implemented in 1990 as part of Proposition 115. The question of first impression we must decide in this writ proceeding is whether the reciprocal discovery provisions of the Criminal Discovery Statute apply to a probation revocation hearing such that a probationer is obligated to provide discovery to the prosecution in such a proceeding.² We hold that the reciprocal discovery provisions set forth in the criminal discovery chapter of Proposition 115 (§ 1054 et seq.) do not apply to a probation revocation hearing, and thus a probationer has no obligation to provide discovery to the prosecution in such a proceeding, because (1) a probation revocation proceeding is not a criminal trial within the meaning of section 1054.3 governing the scope of the discovery obligations of the defense; and (2) neither this chapter, the Constitution of the United States, nor other statutory authority provides for such discovery. Accordingly, we grant defendant Jed Jones's petition for writ of mandate and direct the trial court to vacate its order requiring the defense to provide discovery to the prosecution in the probation revocation hearing in this matter.

BACKGROUND

In January 1999, Jones pleaded guilty to one count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury (§ 245, subd. (a)(1)). The conviction arose from his participation in a fight at a house party. One of the participants suffered a severe injury that resulted in quadriplegia. At the sentencing hearing, the court suspended imposition of sentence and placed Jones on five years' formal probation with standard and special terms and conditions plus 365 days incarceration in county jail.

Summary Revocation of Jones's Probation and Informal Exchange of Discovery

In December 2002, the People petitioned the court for an order summarily revoking Jones's probation, alleging that he had violated the terms and condition of his probation in October 2002 by (1) committing an assault (§ 240) in a restaurant in violation of condition No. 6a; (2) failing to abstain from the use of alcohol in violation of condition No. 7i, and (3) using force, threats, or violence on another person in violation of condition No. 10. The court granted the petition and summarily revoked Jones's probation. Jones made an appearance to deny the allegations, and the court set an evidentiary hearing in the matter.

On May 20, 2003,³ defense counsel sent the People a written informal request for discovery and indicated the defense had audiotapes of two witnesses, one of whom was Alisia Parsons, that would be available to the People. Defense counsel also indicated he would call three witnesses to testify at the probation revocation hearing: Alisia Parsons, Marcos Bachling, and Ashley James, all of whom were present at the fight in question.

Probation Revocation Hearing and the Court's Finding that the Defense Violated Proposition 115 Discovery Rules

The evidentiary hearing on the probation revocation petition commenced on May 27. Jones admitted he had violated condition No. 7i of his probation by failing to abstain from the use of alcohol and presented a defense as to the remaining probation violation allegations.

On May 29, after the People rested, the defense called Parsons as its first witness. During cross-examination, Parsons testified that she was present during the fight in the restaurant, and she heard foul language and "guys" cursing at each other when the fight ended. She also testified that Bachling and a man whose first name was "Lewis" yelled at Jones; and Lewis, who had a shaved head and tattoos on his arms and chest, and Bachling were the ones who fought with Jones. When asked how she knew Lewis, Parsons testified she had seen him at a few bars around town.

Parsons also testified she had spoken with the defense investigator, Mr. Martino, twice in person and three times by telephone, and she had given him information about Lewis. Parsons stated she recognized Lewis during the fight, but did not talk to the police about him when they arrived at the scene of the fight. She learned from Kristine Newark that Newark and Newark's brother, Steven, knew Lewis.

After the court excused Parsons, one of the two prosecutors, Hector Jimenez, told the court during a sidebar conference that he was shocked by Parsons's testimony and complained that "[t]his ... is a three-ring circus." The other prosecutor, Polly Shamoon, complained that Parsons, a defense witness, knew about a person named Lewis and had given a statement to the defense investigator, but the prosecution was "never given discovery on anybody named Lewis." Shamoon accused Bachling, who had testified on May 27 and 28, of falsely testifying that the other man who had fought with Jones was a man named Robert Bunkers.⁴ Shamoon also stated that "the defense had to know all of this was happening."

The court asked defense counsel whether he or his investigator had information, before Parsons testified, that Parsons recognized that the man who was with Bachling during the fight was named Lewis. Defense counsel replied that he did not have such information, and he did not know whether his investigator had that information. The prosecution expressed disbelief at defense counsel's response, arguing that Parsons had testified that she had told the defense investigator that the second person involved in the fight with Jones was named Lewis.

The prosecution then asked the court for an order striking Parsons's entire testimony and complained that the tape recording of Parsons's statement provided by the defense did not contain the information that the second man was named Lewis, not Bunkers. Prosecutor Shamoon told the court she had asked the defense for "any other reports for this witness [Parsons] or written notes or anything that we should [have] and they said no." Defense counsel replied that he had asked his investigator whether he had any reports or notes, and the investigator went through his papers and said he did not think he had any. The court denied the prosecution's motion to strike Parsons's testimony and informed counsel it would be willing to grant a continuance to permit the prosecution to further investigate the matter.

Prosecutor Jimenez accused the defense of committing a "pattern of discovery violations," noting that it was not until the afternoon after Bachling testified that the defense faxed to Jimenez a half page of notes, consisting of eight lines, pertaining to a statement given by Bachling. Both prosecutors argued the People would have cross-examined Bachling more extensively had they received from the defense information that Parsons knew the second man involved in the fight with Jones was a man named Lewis, not Bunkers.

The People made an oral motion for a ruling that the defense had violated the "discovery laws." The court gave the defense an opportunity to respond, and defense counsel argued there was no such violation because Bachling "was a witness to be called by the People in their case in chief."

The court ruled the defense had committed a discovery violation by failing to provide to the People, before the hearing started, the half page of notes regarding Bachling's statement. Referring to the half page of notes, defense counsel replied, "I never had it until today."

Prosecutor Jimenez then asked the court to make a finding that the defense had violated the "reciprocal discovery rules" by failing to provide information that Parsons told the defense investigator that Lewis, not Bunkers, was the second man involved in the fight with Lewis. The court granted the People's request for a continuance to June 6 for the purpose of investigating the matter further.

Jones's Motion To Reverse the Court's Finding that the Defense Had Violated Proposition 115 Discovery Rules

On June 6, Jones filed a motion to reverse the court's ruling that his defense counsel had violated Proposition 115 discovery rules. In his moving papers, Jones stated that on May 29 the court "ruled that the defense had failed to provide reciprocal discovery to the prosecution, i.e. 1/3 of an 8 1/2 X 11 page of hand written notes written by an investigator hired by the defense concerning a witness called by the prosecution [Bachling] during the revocation of probation hearing herein." (Original underscoring.) Jones argued there was no case or statutory law requiring the defense to provide discovery to the prosecution at a violation of probation hearing.

June 9 Order

The court heard Jones's motion on June 9. Following oral argument, the court issued its ruling (hereafter the June 9 order) that under the Proposition 115 discovery provisions set forth in section 1054 et seq., "the defense has an obligation to provide reciprocal discovery in a probation revocation hearing." The court, however, reversed its May 29 finding that the defense had intentionally violated the Criminal Discovery Statute, noting that the law on this question was "unsettled" and the defense had turned over to the prosecution Martino's notes regarding Bachling's statements.

After further argument, the court discussed the following hypothetical scenario, recognizing that its ruling that the Proposition 115 discovery rules apply to probation revocation hearings could be prejudicial to a defendant in such a proceeding:

"Let's say that...