People v. Mooc

• Decision Date: 24 December 2001
• Docket Number: No. S090666.,S090666.
• Citation: 26 Cal.4th 1216,114 Cal.Rptr.2d 482,36 P.3d 21
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Bau A. MOOC, Defendant and Appellant.

114 Cal.Rptr.2d 482

26 Cal.4th 1216

36 P.3d 21

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Bau A. MOOC, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S090666.

Supreme Court of California.

December 24, 2001.

As Modified January 29, 2002.

Jeffrey Wilens, Mission Viejo, under appointment by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Eric S. Multhaup, Mill Valley, for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.

Carl C. Holmes, Public Defender (Orange), Deborah A. Kwast, Chief Deputy Public Defender, Kevin Phillips, Assistant Public Defender, and Lee Blumen, Deputy Public Defender, for California Public Defenders Association and Orange County Public Defender's Office as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Robert Shaw, Pamela A. Ratner, Adrianne S. Denault and Marilyn L. George, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Joseph W. Fletcher, City Attorney (Santa Ana), Hugh Haliford and Denah H. Yoshiyama, Assistant City Attorneys, for City of Santa Ana as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

Tom Haas, City Attorney (Walnut Creek) and Paul M. Valle-Riestra, Assistant City Attorney, for the Cities of Alameda, Bakersfield, Barstow, Buena Park, Carlsbad, Emeryville, Hayward, Laguna

Beach, Menlo Park, Monrovia, Monterey, Napa, Newport Beach, Pleasanton, San Pablo, Sausalito, Sunnyvale, Tracy and Walnut Creek as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

Jones & Mayer, Martin J. Mayer, Long Beach, and Michael R. Capizzi, Santa Ana, for California State Sheriffs Association, California Police Chiefs Association and California Peace Officer's Association as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.

WERDEGAR, J.

In Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, 113 Cal.Rptr. 897, 522 P.2d 305 (Pitchess), we recognized that a criminal defendant may, in some circumstances, compel the discovery of evidence in the arresting law enforcement officer's personnel file that is relevant to the defendant's ability to defend against a criminal charge. "In 1978, the California Legislature codified the privileges and procedures surrounding what had come to be known as 'Pitchess motions' ... through the enactment of Penal Code sections 832.7 and 832.8 and Evidence Code sections 1043 through 1045." (City of Santa Cruz v. Municipal Court (1989) 49 Cal.3d 74, 81, 260 Cal.Rptr. 520, 776 P.2d 222, fns. omitted (Santa Cruz ).) By providing that the trial court should conduct an in camera review, the Legislature balanced the accused's need for disclosure of relevant information with the law enforcement officer's legitimate expectation of privacy in his or her personnel records. (Id, at pp. 83-84, 260 Cal.Rptr. 520, 776 P.2d 222.)

In this case, defendant Bau A. Mooc, charged with battery on a peace officer, contended at trial that it was the officer who had provoked the fight. To support this contention, defendant sought discovery of the officer's personnel records to determine if they contained evidence that the officer had previously been accused of, disciplined for, or sued for using excessive force. The trial court examined the records provided by the custodian of the requested records, here the City of Santa Ana Police Department (Department), and declined to order disclosure. Defendant was later convicted. On appeal, the Court of Appeal found the appellate record did not contain the records the trial court had examined, so it directed the Department to submit such records to the appellate court.

After receiving such records, circumstances led the appellate court to believe it had not been given the records that, by law, were required to be disclosed to the trial court. The Court of Appeal thus took the unusual step of ordering the custodian of the records to deliver to the appellate court the entire personnel file of the officer in question. After examining this file, which apparently was much more extensive than anything previously provided by the Department, the appellate court concluded the file had never been properly presented to the trial court for the exercise of that court's discretion when ruling on the Pitchess motion. Accordingly, the appellate court reversed defendant's conviction and remanded to permit the trial court to conduct a renewed Pitchess hearing after considering the officer's complete personnel file. We granted the People's petition for review.

This case, which has generated no small amount of excitement from various governmental entities and organizations across this state,¹ requires this court to examine the nuts and bolts of a Pitchess motion, to explain such practical but important issues as what the custodian of records must disclose to the trial court when faced with a Pitchess motion, what must be made part of the record, and what an appellate court can do to remedy perceived omissions in the appellate record. As we explain, we conclude (1) the Court of Appeal erred to the extent it suggested the custodian of records must, in response to every Pitchess motion, produce the entire personnel file of the officer or officers in question; (2) that, in light of evidence in this case suggesting the custodian of records failed to provide the appellate court with those records it had provided to the trial court, the Court of Appeal should have acted to augment the record by remanding the case to the trial court to allow that court to settle the record as to which documents it examined when ruling on the Pitchess motion; and (3) the absence of any potentially relevant evidence in the officer's complete personnel record justifies forgoing remand in this case and, instead, simply reversing the judgment of the Court of Appeal, thereby reinstating the judgment of conviction. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

Facts

Defendant Mooc was detained in the Santa Ana jail. On February 21, 1998, he engaged in a fight with Detention Officer Frank Garcia and was charged with committing a battery on a custodial officer causing injury. (Pen.Code, § 243, subd. (c).) Defendant was also charged with having inflicted great bodily injury on Garcia (id., § 12022.7), having a prior strike conviction (id, §§ 667, subds. (d) & (e)(1), 1170.12, subds. (b) & (c)(1)), having suffered a prior serious felony conviction (id., § 667, subd. (a)(1)), and having served a prior prison term (id, § 667.5, subd. (b)).

On April 13, 1998, defendant filed a Pitchess motion. He sought the following: "Any and all documents concerning the above-mentioned officer(s) as defined in Penal Code section 832.8(e); records maintained pursuant to Penal Code section 832.5(b); and, any other records pertaining to the above-mentioned officer(s) and that pertain to: [¶] (a) Record of any incident of force, aggressive conduct or violence directed at persons detained, arrested, or in custody, and/or the giving of false testimony; [¶] (b) Record of any complaints registered with [the custodian of records, here the Department] against the officer(s) by any prisoner, fellow prisoner, or private citizen alleging force, aggressive conduct, or violence directed at persons detained, arrested, or in custody, and/or the giving of false testimony; [¶] (c) Record of disciplinary actions taken against the officer(s) or possible disciplinary actions, to be taken as a result of any complaint or investigation related to the above; [¶] (d) The name, address and telephone number of any person or persons submitting complaints of the above-mentioned acts, including, but not limited to, all persons who have filed subsequent civil claims or lawsuits against [the Department or its] agencies; [¶] (e) The name, address and telephone number of any person or persons interviewed in connection with investigation, of force, aggressive conduct, or violence directed at persons detained, arrested, or in custody, and/or the giving of false testimony; [¶] (f) Any and all information regarding the above officer(s) which forms the basis of current and/or pending civil litigation arising from government claims or lawsuits for force, aggressive conduct, or violence direct[e]d at persons detained, arrested, or in custody, and/or the giving of false testimony; [¶] (g) The records of any statements of psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists or consultants contained in [the Department's] files of the above-mentioned officer(s)."

Attached to defendant's Pitchess motion was a declaration from Defense Counsel Leonard Gumlia, in which he declared that he is "informed and believe[s] that Officer Garcia was the aggressor and that defendant Mooc acted in self-defense in response to Garcia's aggressive conduct." In support, the declaration cites the facts that defendant alleges he acted in self-defense and the police report of the incident states witnesses reported to police that Officer Garcia was the aggressor. The police report, also attached to the motion, indicates inmate witnesses Le, Vo and Solis all reported to the investigating officer that they saw defendant and Officer Garcia arguing and that Garcia then "rushed" defendant.

Officer Garcia's version of the events (as related at the preliminary examination) indicates defendant was the aggressor and that when Garcia told him to return to his module, defendant refused, turned to Garcia and said, "What the fuck, man, I have nothing to lose. Let's get it on!" Garcia reported that defendant then attacked him.

The People opposed defendant's Pitchess motion. The trial court held a hearing on April 24, 1998, and heard argument from both parties. The Department, custodian of the sought-after records, was represented by Assistant City Attorney Hugh Halford. The court decided defendant's allegations justified an in camera examination of the officer's personnel records that were potentially responsive to ...