People v. Gaines

• Decision Date: 30 April 2009
• Docket Number: No. S157008.,S157008.
• Citation: 205 P.3d 1074,92 Cal.Rptr.3d 627,46 Cal. 4th 172
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Rodney Louis GAINES, Defendant and Appellant.
• Court: California Supreme Court

205 P.3d 1074

92 Cal.Rptr.3d 627

46 Cal. 4th 172

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Rodney Louis GAINES, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S157008.

Supreme Court of California.

April 30, 2009.

Peter Gold, San Francisco, under appointment by the Supreme Court, and Heather J. Manolakas, Santa Monica, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Pamela C. Hamanaka, Assistant Attorney General, Keith Borjon, Kathy S. Pomerantz, Scott A. Taryle, Kristofer Jorstad and Stacy S. Schwartz, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BAXTER, J.

A criminal defendant, on a showing of good cause, is entitled to discovery of information in the confidential personnel records of a peace officer when that information is relevant to defend against a criminal charge. (Pen.Code, § 832.7; Evid.Code, § 1043 et seq.; see Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, 113 Cal.Rptr. 897, 522 P.2d 305 (Pitchess).) In this case, the Court of Appeal determined that the trial court abused its discretion by summarily denying defendant's Pitchess motion without first examining the requested records in camera to determine whether they contained relevant information. The Court of Appeal conditionally reversed the judgment of conviction and remanded the matter to permit the trial court to conduct an in camera review of the requested personnel records. If the trial court's inspection uncovered no relevant information, the trial court was to reinstate the judgment. If, on the other hand, relevant information was discovered during the in camera review, the trial court was to order disclosure, allow defendant an opportunity to demonstrate prejudice from the failure to disclose the relevant information, and order a new trial if there was a reasonable probability the outcome would have been different had the information been disclosed.

The parties agree that the trial court erred in failing to review the requested records in camera and that a remand is the appropriate remedy to permit the trial court to conduct that review. The parties further agree that if the in camera review uncovers no relevant information, the judgment should be reinstated. The dispute centers on the remainder of the disposition ordered by the Court of Appeal. Defendant argues that if the in camera review uncovers any information that ought to have been disclosed, the trial court's error in failing to order that disclosure prior to trial should be deemed reversible per se or, alternatively, that the judgment should be reversed unless the People can show that the failure to disclose the information was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. The People, as did the Court of Appeal, believe that the burden of establishing prejudice from any error in failing to disclose relevant information lies with defendant, and that the proper standard of prejudice is whether there is a reasonable probability of a different result had the information been disclosed.

We conclude that the trial court's erroneous denial of a Pitchess motion is not reversible per se. Rather, the failure to disclose relevant information in confidential personnel files, like other discovery errors, is reversible only if there is a reasonable probability of a different result had the information been disclosed. We therefore affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal, with one minor modification to the disposition.

BACKGROUND¹

On June 11, 2005, Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Roger Izzo was conducting undercover surveillance of a home in Lancaster where he believed narcotics were being sold. Some people left the house in a maroon minivan, and Deputy Izzo followed the minivan as it proceeded to a liquor store about half a mile away. He directed Deputies Steven Lehrman and Christopher McMaster to stop the minivan when it exited the area. As Izzo waited for the minivan's occupants to come out of the store, defendant Rodney Louis Gaines approached Izzo's unmarked vehicle and asked him whether he "smoked the white." Defendant offered to sell whatever Izzo might want and claimed he "had it all." Although Izzo declined the offer, defendant spit a small black plastic bindle into his hand and presented it to Izzo. After Izzo reiterated that he was not interested in buying drugs, defendant walked away.

Izzo then contacted the other two deputies and asked them to detain defendant for offering to sell drugs. While Izzo continued to wait, defendant again approached and handed Izzo a small piece of cocaine base, later determined to weigh .03 grams, and a glass pipe used for smoking the drug. Defendant said, "This one [is] on me. Hit this. You'll like it."

Moments later, when Deputies Lehrman and McMaster drove into the parking lot, defendant turned and walked quickly away. As he did so, he put his right hand to his mouth. McMaster ordered defendant several times to stop and, when he did not comply, grabbed him by the shirt and ordered him to get down on the ground. Lehrman noticed that defendant's mouth was clenched closed; he appeared to be chewing for a moment and then swallowed. When defendant finally opened his mouth, Lehrman saw white residue on his tongue and inside his mouth.

Izzo gave the other deputies the glass pipe and the .03 gram piece of cocaine in a base form.

Defendant, a convicted felon and admitted cocaine addict, denied offering to sell Izzo any drugs, denied spitting a bindle of drugs into his hand, and denied handing Izzo a pipe or cocaine. He testified at trial that he had gone to the liquor store to panhandle for money to buy cocaine. While there, he saw a fellow panhandler, an older man, go over to a car. When the panhandler returned, he offered to give defendant a piece of cocaine in exchange for use of his pipe. Defendant handed the panhandler his pipe. About 10 minutes later, the panhandler left the parking lot and indicated he had left defendant's pipe on the side of a large trash receptacle. Defendant went back to the alley to retrieve his pipe and stuck the pipe in his sock. When he returned to the parking lot, Deputy Izzo called him over and asked whether he had any "rock" for sale. Defendant replied, "I don't sell rock, I just use it."

Suddenly, and without warning, Deputy McMaster grabbed him by the shirt and forced him to the ground. McMaster spotted the glass pipe in defendant's sock and ordered defendant to remove his socks and shoes. As defendant removed his left sock, a "little white speck hit the ground." Defendant thought the panhandler must have left the cocaine base in the pipe for him.

A jury convicted defendant of possessing cocaine base (Health & Saf.Code, § 11350) and possessing a smoking device (id., § 11364, subd. (a)). Defendant then admitted a prior strike conviction and seven prior prison term allegations and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

The Court of Appeal determined that the trial court had erred in summarily denying defendant's Pitchess motion without first conducting an in camera review of the requested records. In the trial court, defendant had sought records relating to whether the deputies had previously falsified police records, planted evidence, or committed acts demonstrating dishonesty, and the Court of Appeal found that defendant's showing satisfied "the `"relatively low threshold for discovery"'" under our precedents. The Court of Appeal conditionally reversed the judgment and remanded the case to permit the trial court to conduct an in camera review of the requested peace officer personnel records. The Court of Appeal's disposition provided that "[i]f the trial court's inspection on remand reveals no relevant information, the trial court must reinstate the judgment of conviction and sentence, which shall stand affirmed. If the inspection reveals relevant information, the trial court must order disclosure, allow appellant an opportunity to demonstrate prejudice, and order a new trial if there is a reasonable probability the outcome would have been different had the information been disclosed."

We granted review on a single issue: "Is outright reversal or a remand for a showing of prejudice the appropriate remedy for a trial court's erroneous denial of a Pitchess motion (Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, 113 Cal.Rptr. 897, 522 P.2d 305)?"

DISCUSSION

This court has reviewed at length in several recent cases the background and mechanics of the procedures by which a party may discover relevant evidence in confidential peace officer personnel records. (See, e.g., Garcia v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 63, 63 Cal.Rptr.3d 948, 163 P.3d 939; Warrick v. Superior Court (2005) 35 Cal.4th 1011, 29 Cal.Rptr.3d 2, 112 P.3d 2; Alford v. Superior Court (2003) 29 Cal.4th 1033, 130 Cal.Rptr.2d 672, 63 P.3d 228; City of Los Angeles v. Superior Court (2002) 29 Cal.4th 1, 124 Cal.Rptr.2d 202, 52 P.3d 129.) It is sufficient here to reiterate that, on a showing of good cause, a criminal defendant is entitled to discovery of relevant documents or information in the confidential personnel records of a peace officer accused of misconduct against the defendant. (Evid.Code, § 1043, subd. (b).) Good cause for discovery exists when the defendant shows both "`materiality' to the subject matter of the pending litigation and a `reasonable belief' that the agency has the type of information sought." (City of Santa Cruz v. Municipal Court (1989) 49 Cal.3d 74, 84, 260 Cal.Rptr. 520, 776 P.2d 222.) A showing of good cause is measured by "relatively relaxed standards" that serve to "insure the production" for trial court review of "all potentially relevant documents." (Ibid.) If the defendant establishes good cause, the court must review the requested records in camera to determine what information, if any, should be disclosed. (Chambers v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal.4th 673, 679, 68 Cal.Rptr.3d 43, 170 P.3d 617.) Subject to...