People v. Sinohui

• Decision Date: 13 June 2002
• Docket Number: No. S094039.,S094039.
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Gene SINOHUI, Defendant and Appellant.

120 Cal.Rptr.2d 783

28 Cal.4th 205

47 P.3d 629

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. Robert Gene SINOHUI, Defendant and Appellant.

No. S094039.

Supreme Court of California.

June 13, 2002.

Rehearing Denied August 14, 2002.

Sharon M. Jones and Diane Nichols, San Diego, under appointments by the Supreme Court, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner and Robert R. Anderson, Chief Assistant Attorneys General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Laura Whitcomb Halgren, Robert M. Foster and Angela K. Rosenau, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

BROWN, J.

California recognizes two marital privileges. First, a spouse may refuse to testify against the other spouse (spousal testimony privilege). (Evid.Code, § 970.) Second, a spouse may refuse to disclose or may prevent the other spouse from disclosing confidential communications between them during their marriage (marital communications privilege). (Evid.Code, § 980.) Despite recognizing these privileges, the Legislature has enacted numerous exceptions. (See Evid.Code, §§ 972, 985.) Today, we consider the scope of one of the exceptions common to both marital privileges in the context of the spousal testimony privilege.

In this case, defendant Robert Gene Sinohui contends the trial court erroneously compelled his wife to testify about his crimes against a third person pursuant to the exception to the spousal testimony privilege codified in Evidence Code section 972, subdivision (e)(2) (section 972(e)(2)). As relevant here, section 972(e)(2) precludes a wife from asserting the spousal testimony privilege in "[a] criminal proceeding in which" the husband "is charged with: [¶] ... [¶] ... [a] crime against the person or property of a third person committed in the course of committing a crime against the person or property of his wife. According to defendant, this exception did not apply because the accusatory pleading did not charge defendant with a crime against his wife and because he did not commit the crimes against the third person "in the course of committing" a crime against his wife. We disagree and affirm the trial court's ruling.

FACTS

Prior to marrying defendant, Gina Loiaza had dated Gabriel Terrazas, the victim, for about a year. At some point during the marriage, Loiaza began to see Terrazas again. Loiaza and Terrazas were "close friends" and would meet to "talk and kiss." Loiaza never told defendant about her relationship with Terrazas because she did not believe he would approve and because "he was possessive."

One evening, Loiaza met Terrazas at his home. After a brief stay, they left in her car for a secluded spot in an industrial complex nearby. A few minutes later, they noticed a car behind them. This other car eventually pulled alongside their car, and the driver pointed a gun at Loiaza. Loiaza stopped her car and got out. Two men got out of the other car and ordered Terrazas out of Loiaza's car. As one of the men tried to force Terrazas into the trunk of Loiaza's car, the other man grabbed Loiaza and pushed her out of the way so she could not see Terrazas. At some point, Loiaza recognized defendant as one of the two men and the other car as belonging to defendant's sister-in-law. After hearing and seeing a brief struggle and hearing a gunshot, Loiaza saw Terrazas in the trunk of her car. Defendant then drove away in Loiaza's car with Terrazas in the trunk, and left Loiaza with the other man.

Loiaza told the other man she was going to drive home and got into the car left by defendant. The other man got into the passenger seat, and Loiaza drove to the apartment she shared with defendant. When they arrived, defendant was standing outside. Ignoring defendant, Loiaza ran into the apartment, where she saw defendant's sister-in-law. Loiaza then cheeked on her children and fell asleep on the couch. Although Loiaza dozed "on and off," she saw defendant dressed in several different sets of clothes. During the night, she also saw him wash her car and hand his sister-in-law a bag of clothes.

Early the next morning, defendant woke Loiaza and told her they had to "go for a ride." Loiaza agreed because she was afraid and did not want to upset defendant. Defendant, Loiaza, their three children, and the man who had helped defendant abduct Terrazas got into Loiaza's car. When Loiaza got in, defendant told her Terrazas was in the trunk. Defendant then drove them to a drainage ditch. Defendant and the other man got out of the car and unloaded something. They told Loiaza not to look. Although Loiaza stayed in the car and could not see what was being unloaded, she assumed it was Terrazas's body.

After they returned to the apartment, defendant washed the car again. He then told Loiaza to get gas and told the other man to accompany her. At the gas station, Loiaza noticed blood and water leaking from the trunk.

The next day, defendant and Loiaza left their apartment with their children but without most of their belongings. That same day, a high school student discovered Terrazas's body in a drainage ditch. An autopsy of Terrazas's body revealed multiple bruises, 43 stab wounds and one gunshot wound to the neck. A forensic analysis of the trunk of Loiaza's car uncovered bloodstains consistent with Terrazas's— but not defendant's—blood type.

After leaving their apartment, defendant and Loiaza stayed with various friends and relatives. The police eventually arrested defendant, 25 days after discovering Terrazas's body. The information charged defendant with kidnapping and murdering Terrazas (Pen.Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 207, subd. (a)), but did not charge him with any crimes against Loiaza. The information also alleged enhancements for use of a firearm and knife in the commission of murder (Pen.Code, §§ 1192.7, subd. (c)(8), 12022, subd. (b)(1)), and a prior felony conviction (Pen.Code, § 667.5, subd. (b)).

As the only available eyewitness to the events surrounding Terrazas's kidnapping and murder, Loiaza was the main witness against defendant. Before trial, Loiaza asserted the spousal testimony privilege and refused to testify. (See Evid.Code, § 970.) The trial court, however, compelled her testimony pursuant to the exception to the privilege codified in section 972(e)(2). A jury found defendant guilty of murder and kidnapping but acquitted him of the enhancements. After finding the prior conviction allegation to be true, the court sentenced defendant to 26 years to life. Defendant appealed, contending, among other things, that the court erroneously compelled his wife's testimony.¹

The Court of Appeal reversed. Concluding that Terrazas—and not Loiaza— was the "primary victim" of defendant's crimes, the court held that section 972(e)(2) did not apply. Because Loiaza's testimony was critical, the court found the erroneous introduction of her testimony prejudicial, and did not reach any other issues. We granted review to determine whether the exception to the spousal testimony privilege contained in section 972(e)(2) applies in this case and conclude it does.

DISCUSSION

I

The rule prohibiting a spouse from testifying against another spouse has a long history. It originated in medieval times and apparently "sprang from two canons of medieval jurisprudence: first, the rule that an accused was not permitted to testify in his own behalf because of his interest in the proceeding; second, the concept that husband and wife were one, and that since the woman had no recognized separate legal existence, the husband was that one. From those two now long-abandoned doctrines, it followed that what was inadmissible from the lips of the defendant-husband was also inadmissible from his wife." (Trammel v. United States (1980) 445 U.S. 40, 44, 100 S.Ct. 906, 63 L.Ed.2d 186 (Trammel); see also Medine, The Adverse Testimony Privilege: Time to Dispose of a "Sentimental Relic" (1988) 67 Or. L.Rev. 519, 522-523 [discussing different accounts of how the spousal testimony privilege arose].)

The spousal testimony privilege has evolved considerably from these anachronistic roots (see Frost, Updating the Marital Privileges: A Witness-Centered Rationale (1999) 14 Wis. Women's L.J. 1, 12-15 [discussing some of the commonly recognized exceptions to the spousal testimony privilege]), and many jurisdictions continue to recognize some form of this privilege (see Trammel, supra, 445 U.S. at p. 48, fn. 9, 100 S.Ct. 906 [noting that 33 states recognize some form of spousal testimony privilege]). These jurisdictions do so because the privilege allegedly "`preserve[s] marital harmony,'" "`protects] marital privacy,'" and "`promote[s] the socially beneficial institution of marriage.'" (Frost, Updating the Marital Privileges, at p. 2.) Nonetheless, the privilege has been "sharply criticized," and many commentators have called for its abolition. (Trammel, at pp. 44-5, 100 S.Ct. 906; see also Young v. Superior Court (1961) 190 Cal.App.2d 759, 764, 12 Cal.Rptr. 331 ["The whole concept of marital privilege, immunity or competency has been the subject of almost violent criticism by Wigmore ... and is also damned by most modern writers"].)

In California, all privileges are statutory. (See Evid.Code, § 911, subd. (a) ["Except as otherwise provided by statute: [¶] (a) No person has a privilege to refuse to be a witness"].) Evidence Code section 970 codifies the spousal testimony privilege and provides that "[e]xcept as otherwise provided by statute, a married person has a privilege not to testify against his spouse in any proceeding." Evidence Code section 972 then defines numerous exceptions. Today, we determine the scope of the exception found in section 972(e)(2).

Section 972(e)(2) states that "[a] married person does not have a privilege" under section 970 in "[a] criminal proceeding in which one spouse is charged with: [¶] ... [¶] ... [a] crime against the person or property of a third person committed in the course of...