People v. Bradford

Opinion

GEORGE, C. J.

Following the guilt and special circumstance phase of a capital trial, a jury found defendant Bill Bradford guilty of the first degree murders of Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell (Pen. Code, §§ 187, 189). 1 The jury also found true the special circumstance that defendant had committed multiple murder. (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3).)

Following the penalty phase of the trial, the jury imposed the death penalty. After denying defendant’s motion for modification of the verdict imposing the death penalty, the court sentenced defendant to death for the minders of Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell. This appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm the judgment in its entirety.

I. Facts

The evidence at trial established that between July 4 and July 6, 1984, defendant killed Shari Miller in a remote desert area, stored her body in the *1262 trunk of his vehicle for a number of hours, and then deposited her body in a parking lot in West Los Angeles, where it was discovered on the morning of July 6, 1984. The evidence also established that on July 12, 1984, defendant drove Tracey Campbell to the same remote desert area, where he killed her that day or the following day. On this occasion defendant left the body at the desert site, where it was discovered on August 11, 1984.

A. Guilt Phase Evidence

1. Disappearance of Shari Miller

Defendant became acquainted with Nicholas (Nick) Klos in 1982. Klos often camped in a horseshoe-shaped “bowl area” in an isolated part of the desert near Lancaster, south of Edwards Air Force Base, and on two weekends in April 1983, Klos and defendant, accompanied by others, had driven their motorhomes to that site. Approximately one week prior to July 4, 1984, defendant contacted Klos and inquired whether he intended to go to the bowl area on July 4, 1984. Approximately one week later, defendant again contacted Klos and asked for directions to the bowl area.

Shari Miller, who was 21 years of age, lately had been residing in her automobile. She was acquainted with Marcia Peltier and Michael Faddis. In late June 1984, Faddis, who sometimes recovered used but undamaged clothing from trash containers, had given Shari a blouse with a snail print on it. During June, Shari had given Faddis a double-bladed knife in a double sheath that she desired to sell. Near the end of June, Faddis returned the knife to her because he had been unable to sell it for her.

In late June 1984, Shari had shown her mother, Mara Lyn Miller, a ring decorated with a carved head of an “Indian chief.” At that time Shari wore her hair long. On June 29, Shari telephoned her mother from Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital, telling her that, while in the shower, she had received a bad cut requiring five stitches on her left arm just below the elbow. Shari, wearing a bandage on her arm, arrived at her mother’s residence that night, remaining overnight.

At approximately 2:20 p.m. on Saturday, June 30, Mrs. Miller overheard Shari place a telephone call and address someone as “Bill,” telling him she was sorry she had missed him the week before and inquiring whether the job still was available. Afterward, Shari informed her mother that she was going to have a job posing for a photographer, modeling leather jackets and boots for In The Wind magazine. Telephone records subsequently confirmed that a telephone call had been made from the Miller residence to defendant’s *1263 residence at 2:22 p.m. on June 30. Mrs. Miller saw her daughter for the last time when Mrs. Miller left the residence at approximately 3:00 p.m. on the afternoon of June 30.

On the afternoon of July 1, Shari met her friend Carolyn Bury and told her that she was looking forward to the opportunity within the next week to model leather outfits for a photographer who “had a lot of money,” lived on a boat in the marina, and owned a motorcycle. The photographer would provide the clothing, and Shari “made it very clear that there wouldn’t be any nude shots.” Bury previously had observed that Shari had three tattoos: Harley-Davidson motorcycle “wings” on her left ankle, Winnie the Pooh on her abdomen close to her pubic hair, and an “S” on the bottom of her foot. Shari wore her hair long. Bury had noticed Shari wearing a silver ring made from a spoon.

On the night of July 1 or early on the morning of July 2, Shari, wearing cutoff jeans and a sleeveless top, arrived at a residence where Marcia Peltier was staying. Between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on July 2, the two women made lists of things they planned to do that day. Shari’s list included the notation: “Bill Bradford, Meat Market, 6:00 p.m.” Shari mentioned an upcoming modeling job. At approximately 11:00 a.m., Kurt Androsky, a house painter who recently had become acquainted with Shari, arrived. Androsky, who did not have transportation that day and who knew Shari wanted a job, inquired whether she would assist in the completion of a house-painting job at a residence in the San Fernando Valley. She accepted and, driving her vehicle, left with Kurt to go to the jobsite.

During their drive to that location, Androsky, a narcotics user, injected methamphetamine, and Shari attempted to do so but was unsuccessful. Androsky and Shari arrived between 11:00 a.m. and noon and painted the building for six or seven hours, using yellow paint. Beverly Holst, the owner of the residence, recalled that on a date within several days of July 4, when Holst returned from work, she noticed that Androsky was employing a female assistant dressed in a tank top and cutoff jeans. Holst observed in the driveway a brown or blue vehicle similar in size to a Dodge Dart. The backseat of the vehicle was filled with miscellaneous items.

Androsky and Shari departed at approximately 6:30 p.m. and proceeded to the Meat Market, a bar in West Los Angeles. Shari mentioned to Androsky that she had an offer to model for a photographer, using motorcycles as props, on the following day. After Shari made a telephone call, the photographer arrived at the bar. Shari introduced the man but Androsky was unable to identify defendant as the man he had met. Shari dropped off Androsky in Venice at approximately 9:00 p.m. that evening.

*1264 Schylee O’Hare, a bartender at the Meat Market bar, was acquainted both with defendant and Shari, a former employee at that bar. At approximately noon on July 3, Schylee waited on the sidewalk for the bar to open. Shari drove up, exited from her vehicle, and asked Schylee for a dime, stating she was going to telephone defendant, who had arranged to take photographs of her. Schylee observed that Shari was wearing a tank top, jeans, and leather moccasins that laced up to the knee. 2

Evans Haas had become acquainted with defendant at the Meat Market bar in early June, and also previously had met Shari. Just before noon on Tuesday, July 3 or Wednesday, July 4 (he was not certain which date), Haas visited defendant’s apartment on Midvale Avenue in Los Angeles to inspect a motorcycle that defendant had offered for sale. Approximately one hour later, Shari, wearing long jeans, arrived at defendant’s apartment.

Defendant’s motorcycle was not functioning properly, and at approximately 2:00 p.m., Haas and defendant took one of the motorcycle parts to Bartels Harley-Davidson shop in Culver City. The shop was open, and defendant had a conversation with an employee concerning the part, which purportedly had been repaired. 3 When defendant and Haas returned to the apartment, Shari was asleep inside defendant’s automobile. Defendant asked Haas to stand holding a bottle of liquor next to Shari and took a Polaroid photograph of them. Approximately 45 minutes later, at 2:30 p.m., Haas departed.

Gary Williams, who together with his mother, Olga Talbot, shared the apartment on Midvale Avenue with defendant, was introduced to Shari on that day. Williams recalled driving in and out of the garage as Haas and defendant worked on the motorcycle. Although Williams testified at trial that the date was July 1, relying upon the circumstance that he had not gone to work that day, he was impeached with his preliminary hearing testimony indicating that the date was July 3 and with his employment records demonstrating that he had not worked on July 3.

At approximately 5:00 p.m. on July 3 or 4 (he was uncertain which date), Todd Heidrick, a cousin of Tracey Campbell, who had become acquainted *1265 with defendant, was walking along Midvale Avenue in Los Angeles on his way to West Hollywood. Defendant drove up in his automobile and agreed to give Todd a ride. Defendant was accompanied by someone whom he introduced at the time as “Shari,” whom Todd later identified from photographs.

At approximately 6:00 p.m. on July 3, Shari arrived at the residence of Oliver De La Torre, with whom she had become romantically involved the previous month. She spent the evening but departed at 1:00 a.m. on July 4. Appearing to be apprehensive, Shari told De La Torre that she had agreed to meet someone at a bar but did not want to go to the meeting. She asked De La Torre to leave the door unlocked, because she would return during the night, but she failed to return.

Olga Talbot later told the police that, on July 4, she awoke at 4:30 a.m., as was her custom. On her way to the store, she walked past the living room sofa where defendant slept, noticing he was not present. Talbot soon returned, remaining inside the apartment except for a period of several hours in the afternoon. Defendant did not return until late that evening. 4

As discussed below in greater detail, photographs of Shari later were found in defendant’s possession. The photographs depicted Shari wearing various outfits such as a dress or cutoff jeans and a blouse, posing before distinctive rock formations in the desert. The bandage on her arm was visible. One photograph, taken while Shari was lying down, depicted her bare breasts close up, with her shirt pushed back under her arms, which were held against her body. A police forensic photographer later determined, by taking photographs at the same desert sites during the same time of year and attempting to duplicate the shadows, that one of the photographs of Shari had been taken at approximately 11:05 a.m. and another had been taken at approximately 2:00 p.m., indicating Shari was alive at least until the early afternoon of July 4.

2. Discovery of the body of Shari Miller

At 6:00 a.m. on July 6, Steven Craig, who had an office near the comer of Elm Street and West Pico Boulevard in West Los Angeles, arrived at work *1266 and parked his automobile in an alley near Elm Street. As he walked toward the front of the building, he noticed a large bundle in the parking lot. At 9:50 a.m. that morning, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Officer Edwin Souza was dispatched to the parking lot. He observed a bundle covered by a quilt that was stained with blood. A strong odor emanated from the quilt and a human hand was visible.

LAPD homicide detectives, including John Rockwood and John St. John, observed the body at the scene and were present at the time the coroner’s investigators unwrapped the quilt. The body, initially identified as Jane Doe No. 60, was that of a partially decomposed Caucasian female, five feet nine inches tall, and one hundred twenty pounds. The body was nude and was bound by a single long leather thong ligature that encircled and tied the ankles together, wrapped around the left thigh, and tied together the wrists in front of the abdomen. The neck had ligature marks. The nipples had been entirely removed, and skin tissue had been removed from areas on the lower abdomen and left ankle. The body had an S-shaped tattoo on the bottom of the right foot. Yellowish matter was found under the fingernails. The hair was approximately six inches in length.

A medical examiner for Los Angeles County, Dr. Wegner, performed the autopsy. Death occurred by ligature strangulation, causing discoloration of the head and neck. The nipples and sections of skin had been removed after death by means of a sharp cutting instrument. The back of the left forearm below the elbow had a cut that had been closed with five blue sutures, but no bandage was present. An Indian head silver ring was found on one of the fingers.

The medical examiner estimated that death had occurred between 20 hours to 3 days prior to the time the body first was examined on July 6, or between 3:30 p.m. on July 3 and 7:30 p.m. on July 5. The medical examiner calculated that the time of death would be nearer to the evening of July 5, assuming 110 degree heat at the time of death, storage in the trunk of a vehicle during a period of time prior to the body’s discovery at 6:00 a.m. on July 6, and additional exposure prior to the body’s cold storage at 3:30 p.m. that day.

On July 8, a locked automobile, later determined to be Shari’s, was discovered in the parking lot of Samo’s Bar, located two blocks from defendant’s apartment in Los Angeles. Within several weeks, the police matched a fingerprint taken from an arrest record for Shari with that of Jane Doe No. 60. On August 1, Shari’s mother was informed of her daughter’s death.

*1267 On August 7, the police located and searched Shari’s vehicle in the towing yard where it had been stored since July 8. Although Shari customarily had stored many of her belongings inside her automobile, neatly arranged and covered with the quilt that later was found wrapped around her body, at the time the police located the vehicle, the articles inside were in disarray. The several outfits Shari wore in the photographs taken by defendant were not recovered from the vehicle, nor from several friends’ residences where she had stored clothing. The yellow substance on a pair of cutoff jeans recovered from Shari’s automobile and on a wristwatch subsequently recovered from defendant’s residence, as well as scrapings from the fingernails of Shari’s body, were analyzed and found to have the same composition as the yellow paint at Mrs. Holst’s residence.

3. Disappearance of Tracey Campbell

In the spring of 1984, Tracey Campbell, 15 years of age, moved from Montana, joining her mother, Lida Jane McCabe, who recently had rented a small studio apartment (that did not have a telephone), located on Midvale Avenue in Los Angeles. Tracey attended junior high school during the remainder of the school year. During the first part of June 1984, they were joined by Tracey’s brother Derrill, sister Tanya, and cousin Todd Heidrick, all of whom soon located jobs. Tracey remained in the apartment alone during the day, putting away the bedding and cleaning the apartment after the others had gone to work, but she declined to do the dishes. It was Tracey’s habit to leave the apartment door open during the day. Tracey, who smoked approximately one-half pack of cigarettes per day, always purchased them at the Arco Station located on Overland Avenue and Venice Boulevard, several blocks from the apartment. Tracey did not drive or hitchhike. At the time of her disappearance, she had no money.

In early June, Tanya, Todd, and Tracey, sunbathing at the front of the apartment, met defendant, who lived upstairs in the adjacent apartment complex and was washing his motorcycle nearby. At the time, defendant told them that he was a photographer. Later in June, Todd and Tanya had drinks with defendant at Same’s Bar. On July 1, Todd and Tanya attended the Los Angeles Gay Pride Festival, and two or three days after the festival, on the afternoon of July 3 or July 4, defendant, accompanied by Shari Miller, agreed to drive Todd to West Hollywood.

On the morning of July 9, defendant saw Todd as the latter left the apartment to purchase a newspaper and cigarettes. Defendant offered to drive Todd and purchased the cigarettes for him. They drove to the One Hour Moto-Photo store on Venice Boulevard to drop off film and pick up *1268 developed photographs. Todd indicated his interest in preparing a photographic modeling portfolio. At some point, defendant and Todd returned to defendant’s apartment, where, from the hall closet, defendant retrieved a number of developed photographs. He showed Todd the photographs, which depicted female models, including several photographs that proved to be of Shari Miller. Defendant and Todd had drinks at the Meat Market bar, where defendant took a photograph of a blonde woman, later identified as Schylee O’Hare.

Late that afternoon, Todd agreed to have defendant photograph him at a construction site next to their apartment complex, and Todd mentioned the plan to Tracey when he returned to the apartment in order to change clothing. After shooting the photographs, Todd and defendant had them developed at the one-hour photography store and, upon returning to the apartment, showed the photographs to Tracey and other family members. Defendant and Todd spent the remainder of the night together, at one point driving to the “Tennessee" bar.

On July 11, upon arriving home from work, Todd visited defendant at his apartment. Tracey appeared at the door to inform Todd that it was time for dinner, and in the ensuing conversation, Tracey mentioned that she wanted to become a professional model. Defendant showed her a copy of Faces International, a magazine featuring photographs of people who desired to become models, and advised Tracey to obtain a good photograph of herself and submit it to the magazine. Tracey asked if defendant would prepare a photographic portfolio of her, but he declined, stating that he did not photograph minors. Later that evening, Derrill and Tracey went to a sandwich shop, where Tracey purchased a “subway" sandwich and brought one-half of the sandwich home, mentioning that she would eat it for lunch the following day.

On the morning of July 12, 1984, Tracey was dressed in a blue and white two-piece bathing suit, completely covered by a black, floral-patterned top and shorts outfit, and also wore an ankle bracelet with an amethyst stone and a “pinkie” ring that had the initial “T” on it. At approximately 8:00 a.m., after Todd, Tanya, and their mother left the apartment to go to work, Derrill heard a knock on the apartment door. Defendant spoke with Tracey at the door for several minutes, and Derrill heard defendant mention having a job for Tracey, and possible jobs for Todd and Derrill. Derrill approached and spoke briefly with defendant about the job, disclosing that he was about to leave for work.

Approximately 15 minutes later, at 8:25 a.m., Derrill departed for his job, leaving a pack of Camel cigarettes for Tracey. At approximately 9:00 a.m., *1269 Bill Scognamillo, a neighbor in the same building who knew the family and had observed that Tracey usually left the apartment door open while she cleaned inside, walked by and noticed that the apartment door was closed.

At 4:30 that afternoon, Todd returned from work to find the front door to the apartment locked and the curtains closed. At approximately 5:00 p.m., Mrs. McCabe arrived, but because she had given her keys to Tanya that morning, she and Todd had to pry open the window screen in order to gain entrance. Inside, they discovered that the mattresses were still on the floor, and the cat was inside, but there were no dirty dishes in the sink. Tracey’s half-eaten sandwich still was in the refrigerator, and her purse was in the apartment. .

That evening, when Tracey did not return, Mrs. McCabe, Tanya, Todd, and Derrill began to ask neighbors in the apartment complex, including Bill Scognamillo, whether they had seen Tracey. Todd went to defendant’s apartment, but he was not at home and his vehicle was not in the garage. Olga Talbot informed Todd that defendant was in Orange County. Todd later returned to defendant’s apartment and found a note that Olga had addressed to defendant and placed on the door, indicating defendant still had not returned. Todd checked the garage several times that evening, but defendant’s vehicle was not present. 5

On the morning of July 13, Mrs. McCabe filed a missing person report at the police department on Tracey’s disappearance. That morning and afternoon, Todd checked again and found that defendant’s automobile still was not present in the garage.

At approximately 8:30 that morning, Steven Marshall, a private investigator who was an acquaintance of defendant, telephoned defendant’s apartment and spoke to Olga Talbot. Talbot told him she was worried that defendant had “taken the little girl next door the previous day and was not yet home.” Marshall proceeded to defendant’s apartment, and he observed Mrs. McCabe walking nearby. Marshall inquired whether she had seen defendant. Mrs. McCabe said she had not but was looking for him because the previous day defendant and Tracey had left together, and defendant “had her daughter.” Marshall offered to assist in the search and proceeded to the apartment *1270 garage, where he noticed that defendant’s automobile was not present. At least five times that day Marshall telephoned defendant’s apartment, and each time Talbot told him defendant had not returned. At approximately 4:00 p.m., defendant personally answered the telephone and agreed to meet with Marshall at another location. At that meeting, when Marshall inquired whether defendant had seen Tracey, he stated that he had driven her to purchase cigarettes and had dropped her off at Venice Boulevard because she wanted to hitchhike to the beach.

On the same date, Bill Scognamillo observed defendant, who carried a small or medium-sized briefcase, unlocking the front door of his apartment. Scognamillo approached and asked whether defendant had seen Tracey. Defendant did not respond and entered the apartment, and Scognamillo followed him inside. Defendant, who appeared nervous, dropped the briefcase on a coffee table, grabbed a pornographic magazine, and told Scognamillo to look at some photographs. Defendant moved the briefcase first to the front door and then to the hallway. When Scognamillo again asked whether defendant had seen Tracey, he responded that he had been in the desert taking photographs and had not seen her. When Scognamillo inquired whether defendant had seen Tracey in the last two days, defendant replied that the previous day Tracey had visited his apartment to make a telephone call and then had departed. Scognamillo proceeded to the apartment’s parking garage to discover whether defendant’s vehicle had dust on it, but it was clean. Scognamillo then went to Tracey’s apartment to inform her family of what he had learned.

At approximately 5:00 on the afternoon of July 13, defendant visited Mrs. McCabe’s apartment, where she, Tanya, Derrill, Todd, and Scognamillo were present. Defendant, who was trembling, appeared highly agitated, did not make eye contact, and stood in the doorway of the apartment. When asked in a nonconfrontational manner whether he had seen Tracey and where he had been, defendant stated he did not know where she was and that he had gone to Orange County. Defendant stated that Tracey, wearing a black shorts and top outfit over a blue bathing suit, had stopped by his apartment at approximately 2:30 the previous afternoon to telephone a girlfriend. Defendant subsequently had given Tracey a ride to the comer of Midvale Avenue and Venice Boulevard to purchase cigarettes at a liquor store. Tracey had told him that she was going to the beach.

Following this conversation with defendant, Tanya and Todd proceeded to the parking garage. They noticed that defendant’s automobile was clean and that there were water spots on the windows. When Todd saw defendant near his apartment later that evening, Todd asked why the vehicle was so clean. *1271 Defendant responded that he had had to clean the interior and exterior of the automobile because a fire had ignited in the heater or carburetor.

On July 14, LAPD Officer Michael Taylor interviewed defendant at his apartment concerning the missing person report that Tracey’s family had filed. Defendant informed Officer Taylor that at approximately 2:30 p.m. on July 12, Tracey, who wore a bikini covered with a wrap, had visited his apartment to use the telephone, and defendant subsequently had given her a ride to the comer of Midvale Avenue and Venice Boulevard.

On July 16, LAPD Officer James Gillespie interviewed defendant at his apartment. Defendant gave a nearly identical account, this time remarking that while in the apartment, Tracey had mentioned her desire to become a model, and defendant, who had informed her that he was a photographer, had agreed to prepare a photographic portfolio for her. Following the interview, defendant consented to a search of his apartment. The police briefly looked over items on the tables in the living room and kitchen and opened a hall closet, but did not locate anything that appeared to relate to the case. After defendant executed a consent form authorizing the police to search his automobile, the police briefly examined the inside and trunk of the vehicle without finding anything significant, but they noticed that the floorboard was damp. Defendant stated he had washed the vehicle that day. The interview and searches were completed within one-half hour.

4. Defendant’s initial arrest

On July 31, LAPD officers obtained warrants to arrest defendant in connection with the presumed death of Tracey Campbell, and to conduct a search of his apartment and vehicle. At approximately 6:00 p.m., Detectives Charles Worthen, Robert Rooney, and John Rockwood arrested defendant at the Meat Market bar and seized his automobile, transporting it to the police station.

Detective Donald Ravens participated in the police search of defendant’s apartment. Inside a box located in a hall closet, the officers found a silver chain, a bracelet with a rainbow design, one pair of earrings having purple stones, and one pair of earrings having "stones resembling diamonds. On a coffee table, the officers found a key chain with four keys attached to multiple other key chains.

At approximately 6:30 p.m., Detective Robert Rooney and other officers searched defendant’s vehicle, discovering a knife and an address book in the trunk. Inside the vehicle, the officers discovered two Polaroid photographs *1272 and a number of photographic negatives, as well as a camera bag containing photographs, negatives, and camera equipment. Under the floorboard, the officers found a key chain with several keys and three rings attached. One of these keys subsequently was discovered to fit the locks and ignition both of Shari’s vehicle and Olga Talbot’s vehicle.

Detective Rooney removed the items and placed them on the “homicide desk” inside the police station. The Polaroid photographs depicted a young woman asleep in a vehicle. Several negatives and photographs inside the camera bag depicted the same young woman posing, with a bandage clearly visible on her arm, at various locations in the desert. Upon observing the photographs, Detective Rockwood noticed and commented to Detective St. John, who was investigating the death of Jane Doe No. 60, that the woman in the photographs had an ankle tattoo in the same area of the body where the skin had been removed from the body of Jane Doe No. 60, and that there might be a connection between the two cases. Thereafter, an LAPD forensic expert matched the fingerprints of Jane Doe No. 60 with those of Shari Miller, taken from a record of her arrest in 1980.

Following defendant’s arrest on the evening of July 31, Detectives Worthen and Rockwood interviewed him for four to five hours, and on the following day for an additional seven to ten hours. The police asked defendant about the identity of a young woman depicted in several photographs he had taken. Defendant told them that her name was Shari Miller. He had known her two years, having met her when she was a barmaid at the Meat Market bar. She was in the process of obtaining a divorce, had been a restaurant manager, currently was working as a house painter (he had noticed she had flecks of paint on her clothing), and intended to major in graphic arts at college.

Defendant stated that Shari had wanted recent photographs of herself to give to her mother. Defendant had taken the photographs during the last part of June at Castle Rock in Topanga Canyon. Defendant had dropped off some of the prints for Shari at the Meat Market bar, retaining other prints that he thought were very good, to show to her in person. He last had seen Shari on June 30 or July 1, when she stopped by his apartment and he took the Polaroid photographs. On the fourth of July, he had gone to the Huntington Beach area to watch the tall ships, but did not take photographs.

Defendant identified his address book, which contained telephone numbers for Shari’s mother’s residence, addresses for several of her friends, and a map she had drawn for defendant indicating where she then was staying. When asked about the bracelet, two pairs of earrings (with white stones and *1273 purple stones), and a chain seized from his apartment, defendant stated that approximately two months earlier, Shari had given them to him, asking him to have the bracelet re-plated, the earrings remounted, and a medallion added to the chain. He stated that the key chain with three rings attached belonged to him, and the rings had belonged to several of his ex-wives, including Cindy and Susie, who had returned them.

When asked about Tracey Campbell, defendant provided the following account to the detectives. Defendant first met Tracey on July 9, when he took photographs of Todd at the construction site. He denied having had a conversation with Tracey on July 11 concerning her plans to become a model. On the morning of July 12, he had cleaned and vacuumed at Culver City Camera Shop. At approximately 2:30 p.m., as he returned to his apartment, Tracey appeared, wearing floral-patterned blue gym shorts with a matching tie top and a bikini swimsuit top, and asked to use his telephone to contact a girlfriend. Defendant then gave Tracey a ride to the comer of Midvale Avenue and Venice Boulevard, but did not learn where she intended to go after that. Defendant proceeded to drive a circuitous route to Santa Monica airport, Marina Del Rey, Century City, back to Santa Monica airport, the Mormon Temple, Loyola University, El Segundo, Los Angeles International Airport, King Harbor, Malibu, Leo Carillo State Beach, and Culver City Camera, and then returned to his apartment.

The officers previously had learned that in April 1983, defendant and Nick Klos had driven to the bowl area in the desert near Lancaster, and they asked defendant whether he had gone to that part of the desert with a group of individuals that included Klos. Defendant stated that he had gone to the desert with those persons at that time, but denied that he had gone to the desert with anyone else. Defendant was released from custody on August 3.

On August 7, the police questioned Juanita Parren, an employee of the One Hour Moto-Photo shop on Venice Boulevard, where defendant was a regular customer. The police subsequently obtained store records establishing that defendant had brought in film for developing on July 6, 9, 18, 24, and August 9. Among the negatives submitted during that period were those depicting Shari.

On August 9, defendant arrived at the photography shop and asked to speak with Parren, who stepped outside the store. He told her that he knew the police were following him and drew her attention to a particular vehicle across the street, stating that it was a police vehicle. Defendant inquired as to what Parren had told the police. Defendant and Parren then went inside the store. Defendant had brought in a stack of negatives and reviewed them to *1274 determine which ones he wished to have reprinted, eventually requesting that 50 to 60 be reprinted. As defendant examined one strip of negatives, he cut off one of the negatives with a pair of scissors, placed the negative in his mouth and chewed it, scraping off the emulsion with his teeth. Defendant had the remainder of that strip reprinted.

5. Discovery of the body of Tracey Campbell

On August 11, Nick Klos directed the police to the bowl area in the desert near Lancaster, and approximately 75 law enforcement officers, assisted by Klos, conducted a search of the area. There they discovered a severely decomposed and partly skeletonized body, identified on August 16 through her dental records as that of Tracey Campbell. Bloodstains near some boulders marked the original location of the body, which had been moved approximately 15 feet, probably by the activity of coyotes. Both hands, as well as bones from all of the limbs, were missing. Other bones, including leg bones, had been separated from the body by animals and were located some distance from the body. There was no significant amount of skin remaining on the body from the waist down, and the skin that did remain was completely mummified. The genital organs were completely decomposed and the sex of the body no longer was ascertainable. The body was nude, but a blouse with a snail print on it was wrapped around the face.

On August 12, Dr. Wegner, the Los Angeles County medical examiner, performed an autopsy, determining that the cause of death was ligature strangulation. There were deep ligature imprints along the midline of the upper back, splitting into two imprint lines extending around the neck, consistent with the use of a rope to cause death. A similar V-shaped imprint on the chest indicated that the victim had been tied up, probably prior to death. Dr. Wegner was unable to establish the exact date of death, but testified that the condition of the body was consistent with death having occurred on July 12.

6. Defendant’s second arrest

On August 16, defendant was re-arrested and transported to Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles. At approximately 6:45 p.m., Detectives St. John and Melleker attempted to interview defendant. The interrogation room was equipped with a hidden tape recorder, and Detective St. John also carried a briefcase that contained another tape recorder. Defendant was advised of his *1275 rights pursuant to Miranda, 6 and defendant informed the detectives that he wished to have his attorney present. The detectives escorted him to a telephone, and he attempted to contact his lawyer. The detectives switched off the recording devices.

Defendant was unable to contact the attorney and was returned to the interrogation room. Meanwhile, Detective Worthen, who had just returned to the police station, was informed that defendant did not wish to waive his right to an attorney. Five to ten minutes later, Detective Worthen informed Detective St. John that defendant now was willing to answer questions without the presence of his attorney.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., Detectives St. John and Melleker, reactivating the recording devices, reentered the interrogation room and inquired whether defendant now wished to speak to them. Defendant, responding affirmatively, was re-advised of and waived his rights pursuant to Miranda. Defendant told the officers that he had known Shari Miller approximately two years. Asked when he last had seen Shari and whether he ever had taken her photograph, defendant gave the following account. In June, defendant had agreed to photograph Shari. She missed their scheduled meeting and had telephoned him from her mother’s residence in San Pedro to apologize for canceling. Approximately one week later, during the last part of June, possibly on June 28, defendant had taken one and one-half rolls of film of Shari in Topanga Canyon, and later that evening they had gone to see the film, The Survivors, at a drive-in theater. Defendant then dropped Shari off at the Meat Market bar.

The following day, Shari had appeared at defendant’s apartment while defendant and Evans Haas were working on defendant’s motorcycle. Defendant and Haas drove to Bartels Harley-Davidson in Culver City. They returned to discover Shari asleep in defendant’s automobile, and he recorded the scene with his Polaroid camera. Shari departed to collect her payment for house painting work she had performed in the San Fernando Valley, arranging to meet defendant that evening at the Meat Market bar to obtain the photographs that defendant had taken. Shari did not appear at that time, and defendant never saw her again, except several weeks later to wave to her as she drove by in her vehicle.

Defendant told the detectives that he had photographed Shari only in Topanga Canyon, inside the Meat Market bar, and inside his vehicle in the garage of his apartment. Defendant told the detectives that the photographs *1276 of Shari standing in front of the desert rock formations were taken in Topanga Canyon. Confronted with the fact that the photographs had been taken in the Lancaster desert area, defendant replied that the photographs were “taken up in the Chatsworth area” near Castle Rock.

When asked about Tracey, defendant explained that he had met Tracey’s family while he was cleaning his motorcycle in front of his apartment building, and had met Tracey the day he took photographs of Todd at the construction site. Defendant saw Tracey again one morning when he visited her family’s apartment. That afternoon, she visited defendant’s apartment to use the telephone, and later he dropped her off at a coffee shop on Venice Boulevard.

The detectives informed defendant that Tracey’s body had been discovered approximately 150 yards from the same desert location as that depicted in defendant’s photographs of Shari. Defendant stated that he was unfamiliar with that location. When the police told defendant that they could “place” defendant and Shari in the same desert location where Tracey’s body had been discovered, defendant responded, “I can’t explain it to you.” Asked if he had killed Shari or Tracey, defendant replied, “No sir.” He asked to “try the attorney again,” and the interview concluded.

The same day, August 16, LAPD officers and Lancaster sheriff’s deputies obtained a second search warrant for defendant’s apartment. In the hall closet, they discovered a wristwatch with a dark band flecked with yellow paint, similar to the watch Shari wore in the photographs taken in the desert. The police found approximately 50 documents in defendant’s name, as well as a pair of beach thongs similar to thongs found in Shari’s automobile. In the bedroom of Olga Talbot’s son, Gary Williams, the police found, inside a box, a section of white rope that Williams denied owning. The police recovered a number of photographs from the hall closet and the storage area located in the apartment garage. From the same storage locker, the police recovered a leather shoelace-type thong and a double-bladed knife.

On August 17, pursuant to a search warrant, defendant’s vehicle was searched. Luminol and phenolphthalein tests indicated the possible presence of blood on the floor mat in the trunk. Because these tests also may produce positive results if the chemicals utilized have contact with other substances, such as meat or vegetables, a human precipitant test was conducted. The result was not positive, indicating either that no human blood was present or that the sample used was too minute to produce a reaction.

The white rope recovered from the box in a bedroom at defendant’s apartment proved to make an impression identical to the ligature impressions *1277 discovered on Tracey’s body. During trial, the jury was transported to view the bowl site. The jury was shown that the location where Tracey’s body was discovered was approximately 400 feet from the location of Shari in one of defendant’s photographs, identifiable because of the distinctive rock formations in the background.

The defense rested without presenting any evidence.

After hearing the evidence described above, the jury found defendant guilty of two counts of first degree murder. The jury also found true the special circumstance that defendant had committed multiple murder.

B. Penalty Phase Evidence

1. Prosecution case

The prosecution called seven witnesses who testified concerning a prior rape for which defendant was charged and eventually convicted, as well as a number of prior uncharged criminal activities. During this phase of the trial, prior to the prosecution’s presentation of its final three witnesses, Ellen F., Cindy F., and Cheryl V., defendant successfully moved to relieve his appointed attorneys and proceeded to represent himself. Defendant, stating that “no defense” would be presented, declined to cross-examine two of those witnesses.

a. Julianne P.

In August 1982, Julianne P., who had spent several nights in her automobile, met defendant, who invited her to move into his motorhome. They commenced a sexual relationship in October of that year. Julianne moved out in February 1983, but they had sexual intercourse two or three times in March 1983. On the weekend of April 9,1983, defendant and Julianne drove in defendant’s motorhome to the desert near Lancaster, in order to watch the landing of the NASA Space Shuttle. They were joined by Nick Klos and five other individuals who arrived in Klos’s motorhome. The group then drove the motorhomes to a bowl-shaped area in the desert to spend the night. At approximately 3:00 on the afternoon of April 10, Klos and defendant drove their respective motorhomes away from the bowl site. When the motorhomes reached the highway, Klos turned in the direction of Los Angeles, but defendant turned in the other direction, stopping at a market. Defendant then drove the motorhome back to the bowl site, telling Julianne that he wanted to make certain that the campfire had been extinguished.

At approximately 4:00 p.m., when they arrived at that location, defendant told Julianne to check the campfire. She did so, reentered the motorhome, *1278 reported that the fire was extinguished, and reminded defendant that they needed to return to Los Angeles. Defendant turned off the ignition, opened a can of beer, and stated that he needed to relax and that they might stay in the desert until Wednesday. Defendant pulled out a knife from the side of the driver’s seat and told Julianne that he was going to get a “piece of ass” one way or another and that she must strip. He made a twisting motion with the knife, telling Julianne that her clothes were going to come off one way or another and that he would cut them off if she did not remove them. Julianne removed her clothing.

Defendant told her to go to the back of the motorhome. He told her to masturbate, and she complied. Defendant moved to the back of the motor-home, opened a drawer, and retrieved various oils and gels, telling her to use them. Defendant began to masturbate, then poured an oil over Julianne. Defendant had her insert a dildo into her vagina and move the dildo in and out while simultaneously orally copulating him. Defendant produced a bag with various lingerie garments and had Julianne put on a garter belt, half-bra, and g-string, telling her that he wanted her to look like a “whore.” He began to strike her in the face while calling her a whore. While the dildo still was inside her vagina, defendant gave her a pair of scissors and told her to cut off her pubic hair, so that she would have “a teenage look,” and told her to place the hair in a bottle. Defendant filmed this activity.

Defendant then ordered Julianne to drink a liquid that had the appearance and taste of diluted milk, apparently containing a substance that caused her to lose “full awareness.” Her cognizance of the sequence of subsequent events was uncertain. At some point, defendant had Julianne pull the dildo out of her vagina and place it in her anus. When she refused his subsequent order to lick the dildo, defendant stuck his finger into her anus, removed it with excrement on it, and forced her to lick his finger and the dildo. Defendant produced some rope and threatened to tie up Julianne and use the knife on her if she made any attempt to run. Defendant beat her with a belt and belt buckle on her buttocks, lower back, and thighs, producing bruising that was observable for several weeks.

At another point, after initially asking Julianne whether she wanted a beer and then refusing to give her one, defendant eventually poured into a beer bottle a substance that he said was cocaine and would make her body numb, and told her to drink it. She initially refused. Defendant picked up an ice pick, made a stab at her breast and knee and attempted to stab her hand, and pulled her hair back, threatening to stab the back of her head if she did not drink the liquid. She drank it.

When Julianne told defendant that she had to go to the bathroom, he told her that he did not want her to “dirty up his bathroom” in the motorhome and *1279 ordered her go outside, where it had become very cold, and urinate in a douche bottle. Defendant filmed this activity and then ordered her to drink the urine. She began to drink it but lost consciousness. When she regained consciousness, defendant, who had an erection, was standing in the doorway of the motorhome. Defendant forced Julianne’s head onto his penis, and she orally copulated him. Defendant urinated in her mouth and urinated all over her, laughing at her reaction.

Defendant had Julianne get on the bed in the back of the motorhome, and twisted, sucked, and bit her nipples very painfully and placed clothespins on them. Defendant had her orally copulate him again while lying on her stomach, so that the clothespins were painful. Defendant then told her to sit on top of him and had sexual intercourse with her. Defendant, with his penis still inside Julianne’s vagina, fell asleep. Julianne fell asleep, and when she awoke, defendant was on top of her, having sexual intercourse. She again fell asleep.

Eventually, Julianne awoke to find that defendant had dressed. Defendant drove the motorhome to Los Angeles. After Julianne departed in her own vehicle, she told Nick Klos what had happened. Pursuant to Klos’s advice, Julianne reported the incident and went to the hospital. Several days after his arrest on August 16, 1984, for the present offenses, defendant pleaded no contest to one count of rape.

b. Tamara H. and Mark W.

In the summer of 1982, Mark W. met defendant while both were residing at a trailer park in the Marina Del Rey area. Mark W. lived in a recreational vehicle together with Steve Marshall, his former personal manager during Mark’s earlier career as a musician, and Marshall’s girlfriend. Later that year, Marshall departed, taking Mark’s personal belongings. Mark moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where in March 1984, he met Tamara H., then 21 years of age, and together they moved to Venice, California. Learning through a mutual friend that defendant needed assistance in a rape case involving “Julieanne P[],” to whom Mark previously had been introduced, Mark met with Marshall and defendant. Mark agreed to testify truthfully on defendant’s behalf. As a loan, defendant paid for Mark and Tamara’s motel room, food, and other necessities.

During this time, defendant attempted to arrange to have Tamara work as a model for him. Tamara refused to do so without Mark being present. Defendant eventually agreed that both Mark and Tamara would be present during the modeling session. At approximately 4:00 one afternoon in June *1280 1984, defendant picked them up in his vehicle and proceeded to an airport, where he took photographs, and then drove them to several bars, including the “Tennessee” bar. There, defendant told Mark that he had to do a “drug run.” They had several drinks, which seemed to have a strong effect, and left the last bar at approximately 11:00 p.m. Defendant drove until Mark and Tamara fell asleep. Tamara awoke when it was still dark outside, and discovered they were in the desert. Defendant tapped Tamara on the knee and told her to get out of the automobile. He was carrying a light and a rifle or shotgun that he pointed at Tamara, ordering her to remove her clothing and put on an outfit consisting of shorts and a top. Defendant fired a shot, and Tamara complied. Defendant, who had his pants down and had an erection, attempted to force Tamara to orally copulate him. Her mouth touched his penis for “half a second.”

Meanwhile, Mark awoke and realized that they were in the desert and that he was the only person inside the vehicle. He got out, heard a gunshot, saw a light in the direction of the sound of the gunshot, and yelled for Tamara, who yelled in return. The light moved toward the vehicle, and Mark was able to see defendant, carrying a fluorescent light and what appeared to be a .22-caliber rifle, walking 20 feet behind Tamara, who was dressed in lingerie and was crying. When they approached the vehicle, defendant placed the light on top of the vehicle, removed several dirty mats from the trunk, and placed them on the ground behind the vehicle. He ordered Mark and Tamara to remove all their clothing, firing two shots toward the ground as they did so. He directed them to lie on the mats, and told Tamara to tie Mark with ropes that were attached to the vehicle’s bumper and to orally copulate him. When Mark failed to become aroused, defendant placed the gun so that the barrel touched Mark’s testicles and said he was going to “blow his balls off’ if Mark did not get an erection. Defendant forced Tamara to orally copulate defendant, which she did for less than a minute, and then ordered Tamara to again orally copulate Mark. She did so for approximately one-half hour, but he did not respond.

Eventually, defendant told Mark and Tamara that he was being paid $1,800 to detain them, and that they were waiting for others to arrive, including the person who had hired defendant. Defendant said that when the others soon arrived, Mark and Tamara were “going to get it.” Mark was nude the entire time, while Tamara was forced to change into sexually suggestive clothing that defendant retrieved from the trunk of the vehicle. At one point, while Tamara was nude, defendant tied her arms and legs with a long rope, took Polaroid photographs of her, and asked her what kind of “kinky” things she had done with men.

As the sky became light, defendant stated that it appeared “this person was not going to show up.” Defendant untied Mark, and saying, “this is it,” *1281 pointed the rifle at him and forced him to walk into a ravine. Tamara began to cry. Mark turned toward defendant and said, “you are shooting me in the back.” Mark told defendant to face him and shoot him while Mark looked at his eyes. Defendant began to cry and put down the rifle. Defendant gathered the photographs he had taken throughout the night, doused them with lighter fluid, and set them on fire.

When they returned to the automobile, defendant told them that Steve Marshall had taken out a “contract” on Mark and Tamara, and that they must leave Los Angeles or Marshall would learn the job had not been performed and kill them all. Defendant drove them back to Los Angeles, and after Mark and Tamara retrieved their belongings from the motel room, defendant drove them to San Diego. Mark and Tamara checked into a motel room. When defendant refused to leave immediately, Tamara went to the lobby and asked the manager to telephone the room after a few minutes to inform them that all the guests had to leave. This ploy was successful, and defendant departed. Mark and Tamara asked for a different room and returned to Phoenix the following day. They had no subsequent contact with defendant and did not contact the police. Mark believed that Marshall truly had arranged a “contract” on him.

c. Ellen F.

In June or July 1980, Leslie Carlson and his wife Ellen F. (then 21 years of age), met defendant while living in a trailer court in Niceville, Florida. In August 1980, at Carlson’s invitation, defendant began to live with the couple. During the first week of September 1980, Carlson and Ellen F. separated and Carlson departed. Defendant continued to live with Ellen in a platonic relationship, helping out with the rent and expenses.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on September 20, 1980, Ellen, awakened by noise, discovered defendant, who was intoxicated, beating her dog with a stick that had nails in it. Ellen told defendant to “please quit.” Defendant then entered the trailer, told Ellen to remove her clothing, and began to beat her with a closed fist, striking her in the throat, neck, and legs. Ellen refused to remove her clothing. Defendant then began “shoving things inside” her. Defendant shoved the handle of a dog brush into her vagina and rectum, and then down her throat. Defendant opened a bottle of Tabasco sauce, shoved it in Ellen’s vagina and rectum, then poured the sauce down her throat. Defendant also shoved a coat hanger into Ellen’s vagina and rectum, and then down her throat. Defendant, grabbing and opening a pair of scissors, threatened to cut off her nipples, but she knocked the scissors out of his hand. Defendant choked Ellen and attempted to penetrate her vagina with his *1282 penis. He continued to beat her during the ordeal. Ellen was crying and pleaded with defendant to stop, but he told her to shut up and said he was doing what he wanted to do. The incident lasted three to four hours until defendant fell asleep.

When defendant awoke after a few minutes, Ellen asked him to take her to the hospital. When he failed to do so, Ellen crossed the street and, spitting up blood, appeared at the residence of a girlfriend, who telephoned for an ambulance. Ellen was taken to the police station and then to a hospital, where she was hospitalized for two weeks. Her primary source of pain was in her throat. One night, when she began to choke, a nurse pulled a piece of a coat hanger from inside her throat. A month later Ellen moved from Florida, and she did not file charges against defendant.

d. Cindy F.

Cindy F., who was living in Culver City at the time, met defendant in 1974 or 1975 when she was 15 or 16 years of age, fell in love with him, and within several weeks commenced living with him. Approximately six months later, defendant began to beat Cindy on a weekly basis. Often he forced her to have intercourse after these beatings. Cindy became pregnant, and at one point defendant attempted to slam Cindy’s stomach into a door. She was able to move out of the way, but her finger caught in the door and was almost entirely severed. Their son, named after his father and known as B., was bom on September 2, 1976.

Defendant continued to beat Cindy, and twice threw the infant B. against the wall. On one occasion between Christmas Day in December 1976 and January 1, 1977, defendant appeared at Cindy’s workplace. Defendant gave Cindy a box, telling her, “here’s your Christmas present,” and departed. Cindy unwrapped the box and found B., whom defendant had placed in an infant holder, underneath a windbreaker with the hood covering his face and tied in back. Cindy returned to their apartment that evening to find that everything in it had been demolished, including all of the baby’s presents, which had been tom or cut in pieces. Cindy departed with B. that evening.

In early 1977, Cindy moved in with another man and became pregnant by him. Defendant asked Cindy to return to him, agreeing to take her back although she told him she then was pregnant by the other man. In the summer of 1977, defendant and Cindy commenced living together again, moved to a motorhome in Michigan near Cindy’s parents, and got married. Defendant began to beat Cindy on a daily basis. Cindy gave birth to her second son, A., on December 15, 1977. Two days later, defendant said he *1283 would kill A. because defendant was not the father. Cindy hid A. in a pile of dirty clothing, and defendant attacked B., throwing him against a wall. Cindy telephoned her parents, and although defendant grabbed the telephone and threw it across the room, Cindy’s parents could hear her screams, proceeded to the motorhome, and prevented defendant from committing any further violence. During this period, Cindy’s parents came to the motorhome 20 to 30 times to stop defendant from fighting with Cindy.

Cindy continued to live with defendant until June 1978, and during this period defendant beat her on a daily basis, also striking both children. On one occasion, defendant threw a rock into a body of water so that B., who was approximately one year of age and could not swim, would enter the water. On another occasion, defendant locked the children in the motorhome and turned on the gas, stating that he was going to “blow them up.” Defendant also attempted to strangle Cindy with his bare hands. Soon after the latter two incidents, Cindy, telling defendant that she was going to the laundry, put the children in the automobile and drove to California.

Later in 1978, while in California, Cindy received a message at her workplace that defendant had deposited for her at the residence of a mutual friend some of the children’s baby books and her personal belongings that she had left behind in Michigan. Cindy drove to the friend’s residence, and, leaving the children in the automobile, knocked on the front door. When no one appeared, Cindy proceeded to the back door, which was open. As Cindy entered the back door, defendant closed the door behind her. He asked her to return to him, but she declined. Defendant, stating that he should lock up the residence, asked her to extinguish the lights. When Cindy turned her back to do so, defendant placed a piece of clothing around her neck, attempted to strangle her, and beat her in the face. Defendant walked outside to the automobile and retrieved A., then approximately one year of age, while Cindy picked up B., then approximately two years of age.

Once they had returned to the residence, defendant found a shotgun and told Cindy that if she did not do everything he told her to, they “were going to die.” Defendant proceeded to beat up Cindy, also repeatedly attempting to force her to orally copulate him. Defendant gave B. a black eye, and repeatedly pointed the shotgun at A., saying that he was going to kill him. Defendant said that he was going to make Cindy love him or no one else would ever love them. Defendant swallowed a handful of Codeine tablets and said that after they took effect he would kill Cindy and the children. He continued to beat and kick Cindy. Approximately two hours later, their mutual friend returned to the residence and stopped defendant from proceeding further.

*1284 Cindy suffered bleeding from the temple near the right eye, the nose, and the mouth from this episode, as well as temporary blindness. She incurred permanent partial hearing loss from several incidents in which defendant kicked her in the side of the head.

e. Cheryl V.

In 1972, defendant became acquainted with Cheryl V. through his then girlfriend, Theresa, when Cheryl stayed in their apartment in California for three months before obtaining her own apartment. On May 9, 1972, Cheryl, then 17 years of age, lived with her infant daughter in her apartment in Mar Vista. At approximately 3:00 a.m., defendant appeared at Cheryl’s apartment. Defendant was limping and reported that he had been in a motorcycle accident and was locked out of his apartment. Cheryl told him that he could sleep on the waterbed in the living room. Cheryl returned to sleep in her bedroom.

From the living room, defendant began calling out to Cheryl for various reasons, at one point telling her that her boyfriend was at the front door. She returned to the living room, opened the front door, and found no one present. As she started toward her bedroom, defendant grabbed her, threw her down on the waterbed, and began to remove her robe. Cheryl began biting, scratching, kicking, pushing, and screaming. Defendant sat on top of Cheryl and attempted to place his penis in her mouth, but she would not let him. He then masturbated on her chest until he ejaculated. Defendant told her that “he always wanted to do it so he did.” Cheryl told him to leave, and eventually he departed. Cheryl contacted the police and later filed charges against defendant for attempted rape.

2. Defense case

After defendant eventually was granted permission to act as his own attorney, he rested without calling any witnesses to testify and without presenting any evidence in mitigation. 7 Subsequent to the prosecutor’s closing argument, defendant made the following closing argument to the jury: “Think of how many you don’t even know about. You’re so right. That’s it.”

At the conclusion of the penalty phase, the jury fixed the penalty at death.

*1285 II. Discussion

A. Guilt Phase

1. Issues pertaining to searches and arrests

a. Motions to quash and traverse the July 31, 1984, search warrant and to suppress evidence

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying in part his motions to quash and traverse the search warrant and to suppress the evidence seized in the search conducted on July 31. Following several hearings on the motion to suppress evidence, the trial court ultimately permitted the prosecutor to introduce into evidence several photographs and negatives depicting Shari Miller, as well as a knife seized in the course of that search. We set forth the relevant procedural facts below.

Detective Worthen, assigned to investigate the disappearance of Tracey Campbell, and Detective Ravens, assigned to investigate the murder of one Mischa Stewart, believed to have been murdered by defendant, decided to conduct their respective searches simultaneously on July 31. Detective Worthen subsequently assumed responsibility for both investigations.

Mischa Stewart, an African-American homosexual male, 23 years of age, last was seen alive near closing time on the night of October 8, 1982, departing from the Pink Elephant, a gay bar located in Santa Monica. Stewart left in the company of a man who earlier in the evening had informed the doorman that his name was “Bill” and that he was trying to sell his truck or motorhome. The following morning, Stewart’s nude body was discovered in an alleyway across the street from the Tennessee Savings & Beer Co., a bar frequented by defendant. A woman’s bra, used as a ligature to strangle Stewart, was wrapped around his neck, and a pair of women’s panties bearing the logo, “Genuine Harley Ass,” covered his face. Semen was discovered on his upper leg. The doorman at the Pink Elephant subsequently identified defendant from a photographic lineup as the man who left with Stewart.

On July 31, Detective Worthen prepared an affidavit of probable cause in support of a warrant to search defendant’s person, apartment, and vehicle. The affidavit did not refer to Jane Doe No. 60, who had not yet been identified as Shari Miller nor connected to defendant, but did refer to Tracey Campbell, as well as to Mischa Stewart. The affidavit included extensive information as to the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Campbell and the death of Stewart, describing defendant’s connection to both *1286 cases, including the circumstance that he appeared to be the last person to have been seen with each victim. The affidavit also described the incident in the desert involving Julianne P. for which charges then were pending against defendant.

The affidavit explained defendant’s considerable involvement in photography and stated that it appeared, as part of defendant’s modus operandi, that he “takes photographs [of] or films his victims.” The affidavit referred to numerous attachments, including the following: the police reports of the investigations in the Campbell and Stewart cases; the police and medical reports of the Julianne P. incident, noting that she had been threatened with a knife and ice pick, “forced to submit to various sexual atrocities,” and that “part of these acts were filmed by the suspect”; a report of a police interview with Tracey’s cousin Todd Heidrick, noting that defendant had photographed him prior to engaging in sexual activity with him; 8 and defendant’s three-page “rap sheet” indicating other incidents of sexual or violent assaults.

The search warrant authorized the seizure from defendant’s person of samples of blood, semen, saliva, and head and pubic hair. With regard to Tracey Campbell, the warrant authorized the search and seizure of any blood, head and pubic hair, and particular items of clothing and jewelry and, with regard to Mischa Stewart, a particular jacket. The warrant also authorized the seizure of “any and all photographs and negatives,” camera equipment, sexual devices, items of “underclothing” such as bras, panties, novelty items, and negligées, defendant’s bank books, credit cards, gasoline purchase receipts, mail order catalogs, and “receipts for such items purchased.” Pursuant to the warrant, the police seized among other items 189 photographs (including those of Shari Miller), a knife, and a rifle.

Defendant, asserting that the warrant was overbroad and not supported by probable cause and that the search itself was general and exploratory, moved to quash and traverse the warrant and to suppress numerous items seized. Following argument by counsel, the trial court ruled that the warrant was overbroad to the extent it permitted the seizure of “any and all photographs” and deemed the warrant amended so that, in effect, the references to any and all photographs were limited to those “pertaining to” Campbell or Stewart or to certain lingerie.

The prosecution then urged that, despite the warrant’s overbreadth, it was unnecessary to suppress any of the evidence seized, because the “good faith” *1287 exception to the rule requiring suppression of evidence seized pursuant to an invalid warrant was applicable, and that any evidence seized beyond the proper scope of the warrant was admissible pursuant to the “nexus rule.” To determine whether the good faith exception and nexus rule applied, and whether a general, exploratory search had been conducted, the trial court ordered an evidentiary hearing.

At that hearing, Detective Worthen testified that he provided Detectives Ravens and Rooney with copies of the search warrant and explained the contents of the warrant and affidavit to these detectives, as well as to Detective Rockwood and other officers. The officers discussed the warrant over the course of several days, and Detective Worthen held a meeting on the morning of the search. Detective Worthen instructed the officers to search for photographs of Stewart, Campbell, and other males and females, particularly young females (due to his suspicion that items of Campbell’s clothing might be worn by other subjects in certain of the photographs), and for photographs depicting desert scenes. Detective Worthen told the officers to search for anything having evidentiary value, including the items specified in the warrant and the attachments to the affidavit, such as an ice pick, knife, or rifle.

Detective Worthen testified that he had given these instructions based in part upon information he had received concerning defendant’s previous criminal activities. Detective Worthen had been informed by the San Fernando Valley district attorney’s office of the incident that had occurred several weeks prior to the disappearance of Tracey, in which defendant had taken Mark W. and Tamara H. out to the desert. Detective Worthen had learned, and informed the investigating officers, that defendant had threatened Mark W. with a rifle, may have forced Tamara H. to perform oral copulation, and had taken photographs of one or both victims.

Detective Worthen also relied upon information he had concerning the circumstances of the alleged attack on Julianne P. Although the police previously had searched defendant’s motorhome in connection with that case, Detective Worthen believed additional items might be located in defendant’s apartment.

Detective Worthen also had learned from defendant’s former wife, Cindy, that many years previously, defendant sometimes had awakened screaming due to “nightmares of a girl that he murdered and buried,” and that defendant once had threatened Cindy with a rifle. A number of interviewees had informed Detective Worthen that for a period of several years, defendant had photographed various young women and girls, often having them dress in *1288 outfits selected by defendant. Detective Worthen learned of at least one other unreported possible criminal incident occurring in 1972 or 1974, in which defendant purportedly had driven a female 15 years of age to Malibu Canyon, where he attempted to give her narcotics and take her photograph. Based upon his review of defendant’s criminal history and his knowledge of the facts of the present cases, Detective Worthen suspected that defendant might be responsible for the deaths of persons in addition to Stewart and Campbell.

Detective Worthen testified that he also relied upon defendant’s “rap sheet.” Defendant’s prior record included a 1972 charge of assault with intent to commit rape, reduced to battery pursuant to defendant’s guilty plea, several charges of indecent exposure in 1971 that had been dismissed, and several earlier charges of automobile theft.

Detective Worthen testified that he believed he had probable cause to seize each of the photographs on the basis of the warrant and affidavit. Detective Worthen had informed the police officers assigned to search the apartment that they were not limited to the items described in the warrant, but were to seize any item that might have relevance to anything mentioned in the affidavit. Detective Worthen did not recall whether he had a photograph of Campbell or Stewart with him at the time he and the officers executed the search warrant.

Detective Ravens, who was in charge of the search of defendant’s apartment, testified that prior to the search, he had read the affidavit of probable cause but not its numerous attachments. He believed that the police were to seize an item not listed in the warrant if, once the police were inside the apartment, there appeared evidence related to other possible murder victims that might be used in future investigations.

The police seized many of the contents of the hall closet in defendant’s apartment. Detective Ravens seized a .22-caliber rifle not described in the warrant, because it was common police practice to seize all firearms in a homicide case. Pursuant to the warrant’s direction to seize all photographs, Detective Ravens seized a photo album in the belief that photographs might be relevant to another criminal investigation. Detective Ravens had not been informed specifically what jewelry Tracey was wearing when she disappeared, and therefore seized numerous pieces of jewelry that he believed might belong to her.

After 6:00 p.m. on July 31, Detective Rooney conducted a search of defendant’s automobile. The detective had investigated the death of Mischa *1289 Stewart, had seen his photograph and observed his body at the murder scene, and also had received a photograph and description of Tracey. Rooney previously had examined and had with him a copy of the search warrant, but did not recall reading the affidavit. Rooney searched for those items listed in the warrant and also for items having evidentiary value with regard to defendant’s criminal activities.

Detective Rooney testified that he seized various items, including a bag that contained numerous photographs and negatives, pursuant to the search warrant’s directive to seize “all photographs.” Due to the difficulty in examining the items with a flashlight inside the vehicle, and because he believed that Detective Worthen would be better able to determine their relevancy, Detective Rooney removed the items and placed them on a desk inside the police station. Upon briefly examining the photographs—including those that proved to be of Shari Miller—Detective Rooney believed it possible they might be of Tracey Campbell, or that they might relate either to the case involving the sexual assault and torture of defendant’s girlfriend occurring in the desert, or the case involving the man and woman who were tied and threatened with a “knife” in the desert. Because he believed a knife was involved in that case, Detective Rooney also seized a knife found inside the trunk.

That same evening, Detective Rockwood, who had observed the body of Jane Doe No. 60, reviewed the photographs that Detective Rooney had placed on the desk. Detective Rockwood noticed that a woman in the photographs appeared to have tattoos in the same area of the left ankle as the area in which skin had been removed from the body of Jane Doe No. 60 and concluded there was some connection between the two women.

The trial court denied the defense motion to suppress evidence. The court ruled that the police officers had not conducted an exploratory search, but rather had seized items described in the warrant or closely resembling such items, or that were so interconnected with specifically described items that it would be impossible or impracticable to separate the items prior to their seizure.

Prior to the trial court’s ruling, our court had held that items not named in a search warrant may be seized if the officer is “ ‘ “presently aware of some specific and articulable fact from which a rational link between the item seized and criminal behavior can be inferred.” ’ ” (People v. Easley (1983) 34 Cal.3d 858, 872 [ 196 Cal.Rptr. 309 , 671 P.2d 813 ]; People v. Ramos (1982) 30 Cal.3d 553, 573-574 [ 180 Cal.Rptr. 266 , 639 P.2d 908 ]; People v. Superior Court (Meyers) (1979) 25 Cal.3d 67, 73-74 [ 157 Cal.Rptr. 716 , 598 *1290 P.2d 877 ]; People v. Hill (1974) 12 Cal.3d 731, 762 [ 117 Cal.Rptr. 393 , 528 P.2d 1 ], overruled on other grounds in People v. DeVaughn (1977) 18 Cal.3d 889, 896, fn. 5 [ 135 Cal.Rptr. 786 , 558 P.2d 872 ].) Thereafter, the United States Supreme Court in Arizona v. Hicks (1987) 480 U.S. 321, 326 [ 107 S.Ct. 1149, 1153 , 94 L.Ed.2d 347 ], held that, when the initial intrusion that brought officers within plain view of an item is supported by one of the recognized exceptions to the warrant requirement, such as exigent circumstances, the seizure of items not listed in a warrant is legal only if the police have probable cause to believe (rather than merely a reasonable suspicion) that the items are related to a crime.

Based upon that ruling, defendant moved for reconsideration of the motion. Upon reconsideration, the trial court granted the motion in part, suppressing the rifle seized from defendant’s apartment, but declining to suppress the several photographs depicting Shari Miller or the knife. The trial court determined that despite the warrant’s overbreadth, the photographs seized from defendant’s vehicle were admissible because the officers executed the search in a “good faith” belief the warrant was valid, and because Detective Rockwood’s testimony concerning the connection he perceived between the woman in the photographs and Jane Doe No. 60 established a nexus between those photographs and the items whose seizure was authorized by the warrant. The court found that a nexus was established between the knife and “two acts of criminal behavior where a knife had been used.”

(1) Restriction of scope of inquiry

Defendant asserts that the trial court improperly limited the scope of the hearing by declining to permit defendant to introduce all of the items, including 189 photographs, that the police had seized. The record reflects that defendant’s motion catalogued each item seized. The police officers who testified were examined extensively by the defense, not only concerning the knife and several photographs that the prosecutors sought to have admitted, but also concerning numerous other photographs and items seized.

The trial court did not err in declining to permit the introduction into evidence and examination of the police officers as to every single item seized. The reporter’s transcript and related minute orders recording the lengthy proceedings involved in the suppression motion demonstrate that the trial court, in ruling on the motion, was well aware of the nature and number of items seized that did not directly pertain to the subject investigations, and therefore properly could evaluate, for example, whether the search was exploratory in nature.

*1291 (2) Consideration of applicability of the good faith exception

Defendant asserts that the warrant was so facially deficient that no reasonable police officer could have relied upon it to conduct the search, and that therefore the trial court erred in even considering whether to apply the “good faith” exception to the rule otherwise requiring the suppression of evidence seized pursuant to a facially valid warrant subsequently determined to be invalid. As noted above, in the present case the trial court determined that the reference in the search warrant to all photographs was overbroad, thus finding the warrant partially invalid.

Pursuant to California Constitution, article I, section 28, subdivision (d), our review of issues related to the suppression of evidence derived from police searches and seizures is governed by federal constitutional standards. (People v. Camarella (1991) 54 Cal.3d 592, 595-596 [ 286 Cal.Rptr. 780 , 818 P.2d 63 ]; see People v. Glaser (1995) 11 Cal.4th 354, 363 [ 45 Cal.Rptr.2d 425 , 902 P.2d 729 ]; People v. Banks (1993) 6 Cal.4th 926, 934 [ 25 Cal.Rptr.2d 524 , 863 P.2d 769 ]; People v. McPeters (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1148, 1171 [ 9 Cal.Rptr.2d 834 , 832 P.2d 146 ].) The warrant clause of the Fourth Amendment expressly provides that no warrant may issue except those “particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” (U.S. Const., 4th Amend.; Walter v. United States (1980) 447 U.S. 649, 656-657, fn. 8 [ 100 S.Ct. 2395, 2402 , 65 L.Ed.2d 410 ].) “General warrants, of course, are prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. ‘(T)he problem (posed by the general warrant) is not that of intrusion per se, but of a general, exploratory rummaging in a person’s belongings . . . . (The Fourth Amendment addresses the problem) by requiring a “particular description” of the things to be seized.’ (Coolidge v. New Hampshire, 403 U.S. 443 , 467 .. . (1971).” (Andresen v. Maryland (1976) 427 U.S. 463, 480 [ 96 S.Ct. 2737, 2748 , 49 L.Ed.2d 627 ].) The high court also has recognized, however, that in a complex case resting upon the piecing together of “many bits of evidence,” the warrant properly may be more generalized than would be the case in a more simplified case resting upon more direct evidence. (Id. at p. 481, fn. 10 [ 96 S.Ct. at p. 2749 ].)

In United States v. Leon (1984) 468 U.S. 897 [ 104 S.Ct. 3405 , 82 L.Ed.2d 677 ], the high court held that evidence obtained pursuant to a facially valid search warrant subsequently determined to be invalid is admissible if the officers executed the search in objectively reasonable reliance upon the validity of a search warrant issued by a neutral magistrate. (Id. at pp. 922-923 [104 S.Ct. at pp. 3420-3421]; People v. Camarella, supra, 54 Cal.3d 592, 602-603 ; see People v. Machupa (1994) 7 Cal.4th 614, 618, fn. 1 [ 29 Cal.Rptr.2d 775 , 872 P.2d 114 ].) The court in Leon noted several *1292 exceptions to the admissibility of evidence seized under these circumstances, however, including the situation in which the warrant is “so facially deficient—i.e., in failing to particularize the place to be searched or things to be seized—that the executing officers cannot reasonably presume it to be valid.” (United States v. Leon, supra, 468 U.S. 897, 923 [ 104 S.Ct. 3405, 3421 ].)

A police officer may not shift all of the responsibility for the protection of an accused’s Fourth Amendment rights to the magistrate by executing a warrant no matter how deficient it may be in describing the places to be searched and the items to be seized. An officer applying for a warrant is required to exercise reasonable professional judgment. (People v. Camarella, supra, 54 Cal.3d 592, 604 ; Bailey v. Superior Court (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 1107, 1114 [ 15 Cal.Rptr.2d 17 ] [lack of probable cause was so apparent that reliance upon warrant was unreasonable]; see People v. Maestas (1988) 204 Cal.App.3d 1208, 1218-1221 [ 252 Cal.Rptr. 739 ].)

Defendant relies upon several cases from the federal courts of appeals. Such decisions, as we often have observed, provide persuasive rather than binding authority. (People v. Crittenden (1994) 9 Cal.4th 83, 120, fn. 3 [ 36 Cal.Rptr.2d 474 , 885 P.2d 887 ]; People v. Burton (1989) 48 Cal.3d 843, 854, fn. 2 [ 258 Cal.Rptr. 184 , 771 P.2d 1270 ].) The cases cited by defendant are distinguishable in any event. In U.S. v. Stubbs (9th Cir. 1989) 873 F.2d 210, 212 , a search warrant, held to be so facially invalid that a reasonable officer could not have presumed it to be valid, permitted the seizure of all accounts and business records that had been created during a seven-year period and that contained references to a number of individuals. In Center Art Galleries - Hawaii, Inc. v. U. S. (9th Cir. 1989) 875 F.2d 747 , the warrant held to be facially invalid (id. at pp. 752-753) permitted the seizure of all “ ‘documents, books, ledgers, records and objects which are evidence of violations of federal criminal law.’ ” (Id. at p. 749.) In U.S. v. Dozier (9th Cir. 1988) 844 F.2d 701 , 707-708, the warrant held to be facially invalid authorized the seizure of “ ‘written records, financial statements, address books, . . . telephone books, and bills.’ ” In United States v. Washington (9th Cir. 1986) 782 F.2d 807, 819-820 , the court held to be facially invalid a warrant authorizing the seizure of evidence of the suspect’s association with several named persons as well as any unnamed persons.

In the present case, by contrast, the only portion of the warrant that the trial court deemed to be overbroad was the reference to “any and all *1293 photographs.” 9 Assuming arguendo that the trial court was correct in finding that part of the warrant to be overbroad, the reference to photographs encompassed only one category of items, and the warrant otherwise specified the items to be seized. The warrant’s failure to particularize items within this category of articles to be seized did not render it so facially deficient that no reasonable officer could presume it to be valid.

Finding that the police officers’ conduct was objectively reasonable

Defendant contends that, even assuming the warrant’s facial validity justified a reasonable officer in presuming it valid and performing the search pursuant to its authorization, the prosecutor failed to demonstrate that the officers acted in an objectively reasonable manner. First, according to defendant, few of the officers involved in the execution of the warrant actually had read the warrant, the affidavit in support of probable cause, or the attached exhibits. To the contrary, the record of the evidentiary hearing establishes that Detective Ravens, who executed the warrant to search the apartment, had read the affidavit in support of the search warrant, and that Detective Rooney, who executed the warrant to search the vehicle, had the warrant in his possession and seized items within the scope of the warrant. In addition, Detective Worthen, who had investigated the Campbell and Stewart cases and had learned of defendant’s prior criminal activity, had discussed with the officers, including Ravens and Rooney, the contents of the affidavit and warrant and the acts presently under investigation, as well as the previously charged and uncharged criminal acts.

Second, defendant asserts that the officers’ lack of good faith is demonstrated by the testimony of Detective Worthen and Officer Ravens, which indicated either their personal belief, or their communication to other officers, that the investigators were not limited to the items named in the warrant and could seize anything possibly relating to a crime, once having gained access to the apartment and automobile. In view of the entire testimony of these officers, we do not believe that their isolated comments, to the effect that they could seize items not listed in the warrant, demonstrates failure on their part to act in an objectively reasonable manner.

The plain-view doctrine permits, in the course of a search authorized by a search warrant, the seizure of an item not listed in the warrant, if the police lawfully are in a position from which they view the item, if its incriminating character is immediately apparent, and if the officers have a *1294 lawful right of access to the object. (Horton v. California (1990) 496 U.S. 128, 135-137 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2307-2308 , 110 L.Ed.2d 112 ]; Texas v. Brown (1983) 460 U.S. 730, 739 [ 103 S.Ct. 1535, 1541-1542 , 75 L.Ed.2d 502 ] (plur. opn.); see Minnesota v. Dickerson (1993) 508 U.S. 366, 374-375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 , 124 L.Ed.2d 334 ].) In such circumstances, the warrantless seizure of evidence of crime in plain view is not prohibited by the Fourth Amendment, even if the discovery of the evidence is not inadvertent. (Ho rton v. California, supra, 496 U.S. 128, 130 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2304 ].) Where an officer has a valid warrant to search for one item but merely a suspicion, not amounting to probable cause, concerning a second item, that second item is not immunized from seizure if found during a lawful search for the first item. (Id. at pp. 138-139 [110 S.Ct. at pp. 2308-2309].) This rule was stated by the high court in Horton in the context of a search conducted pursuant to a warrant, notwithstanding the circumstance that in other cases applying the plain view doctrine in various contexts, the determination that the incriminating nature of an item was “immediately apparent” was based upon whether the officers had probable cause to believe that the item was either evidence of a crime or contraband. (E.g., Minnesota v. Dickerson, supra, 508 U.S. 366, 375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 ]; Arizona v. Hicks, supra, 480 U.S. 321, 326-327 [ 107 S.Ct. 1149, 1153-1154 ].)

In the present case, the testimony of the officers involved in the search indicated their belief that they could search for items not listed in the warrant. This testimony, read in context and considered in light of the information in their possession concerning not only the Campbell and Stewart matters but the other incidents, simply reflected their entirely appropriate understanding that such items lawfully might be seized if reasonably believed to be related to criminal activity. Absent any indication to the contrary, this testimony does not demonstrate that the officers’ conduct was objectively unreasonable.

(4) Finding of a nexus between authorized and nonauthorized items seized

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in determining that a nexus existed between items named in the search warrant and the photographs of Shari Miller and the knife found in defendant’s vehicle (items not described in the warrant), thereby improperly justifying the seizure of those items. He urges that probable cause did not exist to seize those items.

As discussed above, in the course of a search authorized by a warrant, the seizure of an item not listed in the warrant may be authorized by *1295 the plain view doctrine. The plain view doctrine does not create an independent “exception” to the warrant clause, but simply is an extension of whatever may be the prior justification for the officers’ “access to an object.” (Texas v. Brown, supra, 460 U.S. 730, 738-739 [ 103 S.Ct. 1535, 1541 ].) The officers lawfully must be in a position from which they can view a particular area; it must be immediately apparent to them that the items they are observing may be evidence of a crime, contraband, or otherwise subject to lawful seizure, and the officers must have a lawful right of access to the object. (Horton v. California, supra, 496 U.S. 128, 136-139 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2307-2309 ]; see Minnesota v. Dickerson, supra, 508 U.S. 366, 374-375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 ]; Coolidge v. New Hampshire (1971) 403 U.S. 443, 465-468 [ 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2037-2039 , 29 L.Ed.2d 564 ].) If, however, the incriminating character of an object in plain view is not immediately apparent, the plain view doctrine cannot justify its seizure. (Horton v. California, supra, 496 U.S. 128, 135-137 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2307-2308 ]; see Minnesota v. Dickerson, supra, 508 U.S. 366, 375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 ].)

As we previously have explained, the photographs were seized pursuant to a warrant, later determined by the trial court to be overbroad to the extent it authorized the officers to seize “any and all photographs,” a determination we assume, for the sake of argument, to be correct. Detective Rooney, acting in the objectively reasonable belief that the warrant was valid, seized the photographs pursuant to that warrant. Therefore, no basis has been presented upon which to suppress this evidence.

In addition, even were the good faith exception not available to justify the seizure of the photographs, the elements of the nexus rule were satisfied. Officer Rooney expressly was authorized to search the vehicle and to seize, at a minimum, photographs relating to Tracey Campbell and Mischa Stewart. As night fell, Rooney transported the bag of photographs and negatives 100 feet to a desk inside the police station in order to examine them. Within a short time, Detective Rockwood, also assigned to the investigation of the Campbell and Stewart cases, observed the photographs that bore a resemblance to Jane Doe No. 60. Therefore, the officer made this discovery during the course of the search for photographs authorized by the warrant. (See Horton v. California, supra, 496 U.S. 128, 140-142 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2309-2311 ] [weapons that were discovered prior to locating the proceeds of the robbery named in the warrant were lawfully seized].) Detective Rockwood, without further investigation, merely examined the photographs and realized their similarity to Jane Doe No. 60—thus, it was “immediately apparent” to him that the items he observed might be evidence of a crime or otherwise subject to seizure without conducting any further search of the object. (Id. at p. 136 [ 110 S.Ct. at p. 2307 ]; Minnesota v. Dickerson, supra, 508 U.S. 366, 375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 ].)

*1296 The elements of the nexus rule also were established with regard to the seizure of the knife. Detective Rooney lawfully was in a position to view the contents of the vehicle trunk, and it immediately was apparent to him that the knife might be evidence relating to a criminal incident. (Horton v. California, supra, 496 U.S. 128, 136 [ 110 S.Ct. 2301, 2307-2308 ]; Minnesota v. Dickerson, supra, 508 U.S. 366, 374-375 [ 113 S.Ct. 2130, 2136-2137 ].) The trial court did not err in determining that the nexus rule applied.

(5) Finding that the search was not general or exploratory

Defendant contends that the police improperly utilized the warrant to conduct a general, exploratory search of his apartment and vehicle. The purpose of the “particularity” requirement of the Fourth Amendment is to avoid general and exploratory searches by requiring a particular description of the items to be seized. (Coolidge v. New Hampshire, supra, 403 U.S. 443, 467 [ 91 S.Ct. 2022, 2038-2039 ]; Stanford v. Texas (1965) 379 U.S. 476, 485 [ 85 S.Ct. 506, 511-512 , 13 L.Ed.2d 431 ].) The high court has rejected, however, the contention that police action disregarding the authorized scope of a warrant transforms the warrant into an impermissible general warrant, requiring suppression of the entire fruit of the search, rather than merely those items as to which there was no probable cause to support seizure—where the officers have not exceeded the scope of the warrant in the places searched, but only in seizing items unconnected to the investigation or prosecution of the crime. In such circumstances, when all items unlawfully seized are suppressed, “there is certainly no requirement that lawfully seized evidence be suppressed as well. [Citations.]” (Waller v. Georgia (1984) 467 U.S. 39, 43-44, fn. 3 [ 104 S.Ct. 2210, 2214 , 81 L.Ed.2d 31 ]; Andresen v. Maryland, supra, 427 U.S. 463, 482, fn. 11 [ 96 S.Ct. 2737, 2749 ].) In the present case, the officers searched for and seized items— including some that the trial court considered unlawfully seized and ordered suppressed—only from the “places” designated in the warrant.

In asserting that the search was general and exploratory, defendant relies upon the contention made and rejected earlier—that the executing officers had not read the contents of the warrant or the affidavit of probable cause. Defendant also asserts that because the officers seized more items not named in the warrant than items named, this circumstance establishes the exploratory nature of the search. In view of the information possessed by the officers in charge, the contents of the affidavit of probable cause, and the information contained in the attachments, that circumstance did not by itself establish that the search was exploratory.

*1297 b. Motions to quash and traverse the August 16, 1984, search warrant and to suppress evidence

(1) Finding that the affidavit of probable cause supported issuance of the search warrant

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motions to quash and traverse the search warrant issued on August 16. Defendant contends that several of the statements in the affidavit were false and misleading and that, if such statements were considered excised or corrected, the remaining contents of the affidavit were insufficient to justify a finding of probable cause to support issuance of the warrant.

In Franks v. Delaware (1978) 438 U.S. 154 [ 98 S.Ct. 2674 , 57 L.Ed.2d 667 ], the United States Supreme Court held that a defendant may challenge the veracity of statements contained in an affidavit of probable cause made in support of the issuance of a search warrant. When presented with such a challenge, the lower courts must conduct an evidentiary hearing if a defendant makes a substantial showing that: (1) the affidavit contains statements that are deliberately false or were made in reckless disregard of the truth and (2) the affidavit’s remaining contents, after the false statements are excised, are insufficient to justify a finding of probable cause. At the evidentiary hearing, if the statements are proved by a preponderance of the evidence to be false or reckless, they must be considered excised. If the remaining contents of the affidavit are insufficient to establish probable cause, the warrant must be voided and any evidence seized pursuant to that warrant must be suppressed. (Id. at pp. 155-156 [98 S.Ct. at pp. 2676-2677].)

A defendant who challenges a search warrant based upon an affidavit containing omissions bears the burden of showing that the omissions were material to the determination of probable cause. (See People v. Luttenberger (1990) 50 Cal.3d 1 , 14-15 & fn. 4 [ 265 Cal.Rptr. 690 , 784 P.2d 633 ].) “Pursuant to [California Constitution, article I,] section 28[, subdivision] (d), materiality is evaluated by the test of Illinois v. Gates (1983) 462 U.S. 213 . . . , which looks to the totality of the circumstances in determining whether a warrant affidavit establishes good cause for a search. [Citation.]” (People v. Luttenberger, supra, 50 Cal.3d 1, 23 .)

In moving to quash and traverse the August 16 search warrant, defendant contended that the affiant, Detective St. John, made statements in the affidavit that were false and misleading. The prosecution eventually conceded that an evidentiary hearing was necessary. Following the hearing, at which Detective St. John testified at length, the trial court denied the *1298 motion, ultimately permitting the prosecution to introduce into evidence items seized pursuant to the warrant, including the double-bladed knife and sheath, the wristwatch flecked with yellow paint, the leather shoelace-type thong, and the section of white rope.

(a) Omission of information that Shari was seen after June 30-

Detective St. John stated in the affidavit that the last person whom Shari was known to have intended to visit was a photographer, identified as defendant through the telephone calls that Shari had made from her mother’s residence on June 30. Detective St. John also stated in the affidavit that he had interviewed Danny Collins, who “informed me that he had last seen Ms. Miller on July 1st. . . and that she was going to meet a photographer.”

At the evidentiary hearing, Detective St. John testified as follows. He had intended the magistrate to infer that it was possible that Shari Miller had not been seen after June 30th. Prior to August 16, however, Detective St. John had interviewed four of Shari’s associates, who indicated they believed that they had seen Shari between July 1 and July 4, and Detective St. John knew that Shari had not been killed prior to July 4. Detective St. John also had learned that employees of a camera store had seen defendant and Shari in the store approximately on July 1. In addition, Detective St. John had observed a drawing of a rose, bearing Shari’s signature and dated July 1, discovered during the search of Shari Miller’s vehicle. Detective St. John did not include this information in the affidavit.

The trial court determined that Detective St. John had been selective in providing information to the magistrate, with the intention of conveying a particular impression regarding defendant’s role in Shari’s death. The court found that Detective St. John demonstrated an intentional or reckless disregard of the truth in failing to mention his interviews with Shari’s associates, who had told him they had seen her after July 1. The court also found, however, that the affidavit, considered as amended to include this information, was sufficient to establish probable cause supporting issuance of the warrant. The court observed that, even in light of this information, Detective St. John remained “justified in making a conclusion to the magistrate that after June 30, 1984, that Shari Miller intended to see a photographer named Bill, that she saw Mr. Bradford during this time—during the time between June 30 and the point at which she died, and that she met with foul play.”

It does not appear that the magistrate would have been misled by the affidavit. Although defendant has not acknowledged the fact in his brief, the affidavit itself, after indicating there had been contact between defendant *1299 and Shari on June 30, stated that Danny Collins had seen Shari on July 1, suggesting that the time frame of Shari’s disappearance was not exact. As the Attorney General has observed, the affidavit described the discovery of Jane Doe No. 60 on July 6 and noted the coroner’s estimate of her death as having occurred between 36 to 48 hours previously—information that also suggested Shari had been alive for a day or so after June 30.

Moreover, even assuming the omitted statements did mislead the magistrate to believe Shari last had been seen alive on June 30, those omissions clearly were not material in light of the totality of the circumstances. The affidavit stated that the police had discovered through the photographs recovered in the previous search and through fingerprint records that Shari was Jane Doe No. 60, and also had discovered through defendant’s own statements that he was acquainted with Shari and had taken photographs of her within several days of her disappearance. The affidavit explained that the police had determined that defendant had lied about the date and location at which the photographs were taken, that Shari’s photographs had been taken at approximately the same location in the Mojave desert where Julianne P. had been raped and where Tracey’s body had been discovered, and that both murder victims were killed in a similar manner. The trial court did not err in finding that, considered as amended to include the above described information, the affidavit established probable cause.

(b) Request to search for items already in police custody

On August 7, Detective St. John led a search of Shari’s automobile, containing her clothing and other personal belongings. The police removed and inventoried the items, which included a silver spoon ring, five pierced earrings, two silver bracelets, two pairs of cutoff jeans, a black wrist strap, and a pair of brown thongs.

Despite the prior recovery of similar items, Detective St. John sought authorization in the warrant to search for a “silver spoon ring,” “women’s pierced earrings,” a “gold bracelet,” “blue cut off shorts,” a “female watch with black band,” and any “female clothing as shown in [a] series of 9 photographs of Shari Miller” attached as exhibits to the affidavit, depicting her wearing a pair of cutoff blue jeans, a pair of brown thongs, a wrist band, and jewelry. The affidavit of probable cause did not state that Shari’s vehicle earlier had been inventoried, nor that similar articles already were in police custody.

The trial court determined that Detective St. John failed to exercise due care in seeking authorization to search for the silver spoon ring that already *1300 was in police custody. The court also found Detective St. John negligent in “not more fully and explicitly revealing which items were already in police custody and for expressing his reasons for requesting permission to search for additional sets of those items.”

Defendant contends that Detective St. John knew or should have known that the silver spoon ring already was in police custody, and that his request to search for this article demonstrated an intentional or reckless disregard of the truth. Detective St. John testified that on August 7, he personally directed the taking of the inventory and photographs of the articles, as well as the preparation of the property report. The silver spoon ring and many of Shari’s belongings were included within one item, “one red duffle bag containing miscellaneous objects,” the contents of which Detective St. John did not examine or record. The evidence does not establish that at the time he prepared the affidavit of probable cause, Detective St. John had personal knowledge of the prior seizure of the spoon ring.

Defendant further contends that even if Detective St. John personally did not know the spoon ring was in police custody, other police officers investigating Shari’s death had personal knowledge that this item had been seized, and should have so informed Detective St. John. Although it is the rule that the “police [cannot] insulate one officer’s deliberate misstatement merely by relaying it through an officer-affiant personally ignorant of its falsity” (Franks v. Delaware, supra, 438 U.S. 154, 163-164, fn. 6 [ 98 S.Ct. 2674, 2680 ]; U.S. v. DeLeon (9th Cir. 1992) 979 F.2d 761, 764 ), nothing in the record indicates that the police officers who searched Shari’s vehicle deliberately withheld from Detective St. John information that the spoon ring had been seized earlier. The trial court did not err in determining that Detective St. John merely was negligent.

Defendant also contends that additional items sought by Detective St. John—pierced earrings, a gold bracelet, cutoff jeans, a woman’s watch with black band, and a pair of brown thongs—already were in police custody, and the inclusion of them in the affidavit demonstrated an intentional or reckless disregard of the truth. Detective St. John testified he had observed that Shari had pierced ears, and he knew she occasionally wore pierced earrings. Although Detective St. John was aware that pierced earrings had been recovered from Shari’s vehicle, he certainly was not unreasonable in seeking their seizure based upon the surmise that she owned additional pierced earrings. The gold bracelet appearing in the photographs and listed in the affidavit clearly was distinct from the two silver bracelets that the police already held in custody.

Detective St. John testified that Doreen Music, a criminalist working with Detective St. John, compared the pair of cutoff jeans in the photographs with *1301 the two pairs of cutoff jeans recovered from Shari’s vehicle, and was unable positively to identify either pair as those Shari wore in the photographs. Detective St. John observed that the pair of thongs depicted in the photographs was the same color as the pair already in police custody, and he did not know whether Shari owned any additional pairs. Detective St. John was unable to determine from an examination of the photographs whether the black wrist strap worn by Shari included a watch, or whether it matched the black wrist strap found inside her vehicle.

We have reviewed this evidence, and it does not appear that the items recovered from the vehicle matched those in the photographs. Although the pair of thongs depicted in the photographs resembled the pair already in police custody, the thongs were fungible in nature and it was not unreasonable to conclude that Shari may have owned additional pairs. In addition, the officer who seized the watch with yellow paint flecks was aware of Shari’s recent activity as a painter, a circumstance that supplied independent probable cause for seizure of that item. Accordingly, we conclude that the trial court did not err in finding that although Detective St. John should have disclosed in his affidavit that items similar to those in the photographs already were in police custody, his failure to do so merely was negligent and was not intentional or reckless.

(c) Omission of information relating to prior searches

Detective St. John did not describe in the affidavit the two prior searches that had been conducted of defendant’s apartment and vehicle on July 16 and July 31. These searches consisted of a consensual and cursory search conducted by a single police officer on July 16, and the more extensive search (discussed, ante, pp. 1285-1297) conducted pursuant to a warrant by several officers on July 31. The trial court found that the August 16 affidavit referred several times to the July 31 search, that the attachments to the later affidavit included a copy of the earlier warrant and the related property return, and that the magistrate had sufficient time to read the contents of the August 16 affidavit as well as portions of the attachments, including the prior warrant and return, and reasonably would have understood there had been a prior search on July 31 before issuing the August 16 warrant. 10

Defendant contends that pursuant to U.S. v. Whitworth (9th Cir. 1988) 856 F.2d 1268, 1281-1282 (Whitworth), it was not “proper for law enforcement *1302 officials to withhold information regarding prior searches of the same premises for magistrates considering warrant applications.” That decision and others have observed that prior case authority has declined to establish a per se rule against consecutive searches, presuming, “ ‘in the absence of some showing to the contrary, that officers perform their duties and properly execute the processes placed in their hands.’ ” (Id. at p. 1282; Filippelli v. United States (9th Cir. 1925) 6 F.2d 121, 125 .)

In Whitworth , a warrantless but consensual search was conducted of the defendant’s residence, and a second search pursuant to a warrant was conducted 11 days later. ( 856 F.2d 1268, 1278-1279 .) The court found the government’s intentional failure to mention the initial search in the subsequent affidavit to be “problematic.” It concluded, however, that the consent-based search had not been performed as thoroughly as a warrant-based search would have been, and that probable cause still existed for the subsequent search. (Id. at p. 1282.) In the present case, similarly, the July 16 consensual search of defendant’s apartment and vehicle was extremely cursory in nature and did not negate probable cause to believe that incriminating evidence would be found during a subsequent search based upon a warrant.

Moreover, with regard to the subsequent warrant-based searches, the present case is factually distinct from Whitworth in two important respects. First, the August 16 affidavit expressly referred to a previous search conducted pursuant to a warrant; the affidavit’s attachments specified that it occurred on July 31 and provided documentation of the objects of that search as well as its results. Second, the issuance of the second search warrant was based upon a showing of additional criminal activity.

The probable cause supporting the July 31 search warrant was predicated upon defendant’s connection with two incidents arising in the “westside” of Los Angeles—the disappearance of Tracey Campbell on July 12 and the *1303 murder of Mischa Stewart in October 1982. Following the July 31 search of defendant’s apartment and vehicle, but prior to the application for a search warrant made on August 16, the police had made several major discoveries. Tracey’s body, found in the desert area near Lancaster, provided specifics as to the location and manner of her death. Shari’s body had been identified in part through defendant’s possession of her photographs, and he had admitted his personal acquaintance and contacts with her just prior to her disappearance—circumstances that, combined with information provided by others, connected defendant with her death as well. Further, as Detective St. John testified, during the period following defendant’s release from police custody on August 3 until his re-arrest on August 16, defendant had the opportunity to conceal small items on his person—jewelry or human parts— and transfer them to his apartment. Even had it been emphasized in the affidavit of August 16 that two prior separate searches had been conducted within a one-month period, the magistrate reasonably could have concluded that additional probable cause existed to conduct a third search.

(2) Finding that the search was not general and exploratory

Defendant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress all evidence seized in the August 16 search on the ground that the search was general and exploratory. The search warrant issued on that date authorized the police to search defendant’s apartment and “all facilities within the structure, garages or storage units, basements, attics, and all containers located either inside the premises or on the grounds of premises designated for their use,” a 1965 Dodge, a 1984 Dodge Daytona, a 1977 Datsun, and a Marina Del Rey storage area rented to Olga Talbot. The warrant specified numerous items of property, the majority of which consisted of clothing and jewelry worn by Tracey or Shari, camera equipment and film, cigarettes, maps of Los Angeles, human specimens, such as hair, blood, and body fluids, defendant’s bank books, credit cards and receipts, mail order catalogues, as well as knives and sharp cutting instruments. The return to the search warrant reveals that a number of additional items, including an additional vehicle, medicines, toiletries, magazines, and miscellaneous papers, were seized.

A hearing was conducted at which the officers conducting the search testified for the prosecution and Olga Talbot testified for the defense. The trial court determined that the search exceeded the scope authorized by the warrant and encompassed the search of a vehicle and several storage lockers not named in the warrant. Accordingly, it ruled that evidence seized during the unauthorized portions of the search could not be introduced at trial and ordered suppressed numerous items, including a belt buckle with a motorcycle logo that the prosecution had sought to admit at trial. The trial court *1304 rejected, however, defendant’s motion to suppress all evidence seized during the search, including that lawfully seized—a motion premised upon the theory that the conduct of the police was in “flagrant disregard” of the authorized scope of the search and must be punished by a total suppression of evidence. Although remarking that “portions of the search did possess exploratory qualities, and that the seizure of numerous items of property was overly broad,” the trial court found that “the officers had not acted in bad faith,” and that “the majority of the items seized” were seized lawfully. The court concluded that “whatever criticism may be directed toward the conduct of this particular search it does not appear to rise to the level of the egregious misconduct which justifies the imposition of the ultimate sanction of total suppression of items seized during the course of this search.”

(a) Restriction of scope of inquiry

Defendant contends, as he did with respect to the July 31 search, that the trial court improperly limited the scope of the hearing by declining to permit defendant to introduce all of the individual items seized by the police. The record reflects that defendant’s motion catalogued each item seized. The police officers who testified were examined extensively concerning numerous items seized. The defense motion as well as the return to the warrant recorded the number and variety of items seized and the areas searched. The entire record of the proceedings reflects that the trial court, in ruling on the motion, was cognizant of the areas searched that were not clearly designated in the warrant and the nature and number of items seized that did not pertain directly to the subject investigations, and therefore could evaluate properly whether the search was exploratory in nature. The trial court did not err in declining to permit the introduction into evidence of every single item seized.

(b) Finding that the police were not in “flagrant disregard” of the authorized scope of the search

Defendant contends that the executing officers’ failure to peruse the contents of the warrant prior to or during the search, their failure to limit the area of the search to those areas described in the warrant, and their failure to confine their seizures to those items designated in the warrant demonstrate that the officers’ conduct was in “flagrant disregard” of the scope of their prior authorization. According to defendant, the improper police conduct necessitated total suppression of the fruits of the seizure, including those items seized within the scope of the warrant.

As noted above, in a footnote, the high court in Waller v. Georgia, supra, 467 U.S. 39 , discussed and rejected the defendants’ contention that the *1305 police so “flagrant[ly] disregard[ed]” the scope of the warrants in conducting the seizures that they turned the warrants into impermissible general warrants, requiring suppression of the entire fruit of the search, rather than merely suppression of those items as to which there was no probable cause to support seizure. (Id. at pp. 43-44, fn. 3 [104 S.Ct. at p. 2214].) The court noted that the defendants did not assert that the officers exceeded the scope of the warrant in the places searched but only that the police unlawfully seized and took away items unconnected to the prosecution. Because all items that were unlawfully seized were suppressed, “[i]n these circumstances, there is certainly no requirement that lawfully seized evidence be suppressed as well. [Citations.]” (Ibid.; Andresen v. Maryland, supra, 427 U.S. 463, 482, fn. 11 [ 96 S.Ct. 2737, 2749 ].)

Subsequent to Waller v. Georgia, supra, 467 U.S. 39 , a number of decisions of the lower federal courts—decisions that, as earlier observed, provide persuasive rather than binding authority (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 120, fn. 3)—have addressed the foregoing issue. The Ninth Circuit has interpreted the footnote in Waller to mean that when the police seize items in flagrant disregard of the limitations imposed by a search warrant, a blanket suppression both of items seized pursuant to the warrant and those seized outside the scope of the warrant is mandated. (U.S. v. Mittelman (9th Cir. 1993) 999 F.2d 440, 444 ; U.S. v. Chen (9th Cir. 1992) 979 F.2d 714 , 716-720; United States v. Crozier (9th Cir. 1985) 777 F.2d 1376, 1381 ; see United States v. Tamura (9th Cir. 1982) 694 F.2d 591, 597 ; United States v. Rettig (9th Cir. 1978) 589 F.2d 418, 423 .) The majority of other circuits also have concluded that police conduct in flagrant disregard of the scope of the warrant may justify total suppression of the evidence seized. (U.S. v. Young (1st Cir. 1989) 877 F.2d 1099, 1105 ; U.S. v. Matias (2d Cir. 1988) 836 F.2d 744, 747-748 ; U.S. v. Jones (4th Cir. 1994) 31 F.3d 1304, 1314 ; U.S. v. Henson (6th Cir. 1988) 848 F.2d 1374, 1383-1384 ; U.S. v. Decker (8th Cir. 1992) 956 F.2d 773, 779 ; Marvin v. United States (8th Cir. 1984) 732 F.2d 669, 674-675 ; United States v. Medlin (10th Cir. 1986) 798 F.2d 407, 410-411 ; U.S. v. $149,442.43 in U.S. Currency (10th Cir. 1992) 965 F.2d 868, 875 ; U.S. v. Lambert (11th Cir. 1989) 887 F.2d 1568, 1572-1573 ; United States v. Wuagneux (11th Cir. 1982) 683 F.2d 1343, 1354 ; U.S. v. Nicely (D.C. Cir. 1991) 922 F.2d 850, 858 [ 287 App.D.C. 322 ]; United States v. Heldt (D.C. Cir. 1981) 668 F.2d 1238 , 1259-1260 [ 215 App.D.C. 206 ].) Only one circuit expressly has declined to adopt the “flagrant disregard” standard requiring blanket suppression. (U.S. v. Willey (5th Cir. 1995) 57 F.3d 1374, 1390 .)

In U.S. v. Chen, supra, 919 F.2d 714, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit explained that the suppression of all evidence is an *1306 extraordinary remedy, used only when the violations of the warrant’s requirements are so extreme that the search essentially is transformed into an impermissible general search. (Id. at p. 717.) The courts rarely have actually concluded that police conduct was so extreme as to warrant total suppression. The remedy has been justified when the police exceeded the “scope of the warrant in the places searched” (Waller v. Georgia, supra, 467 U.S. 39, 44, fn. 3 [ 104 S.Ct. 2210, 2214 ]; U.S. v. Decker, supra, 956 F.2d 773, 779 ), the police used the warrant as a pretext to search for evidence of unrelated crimes (United States v. Rettig, supra, 589 F.2d 418, 423 ), or the police were motivated ‘“by a desire to engage in indiscriminate “fishing” ’ ” rather than by “considerations of practicality” (U.S. v. Chen, supra, 979 F.2d 714 , 717; U.S. v. Medlin (10th Cir. 1988) 842 F.2d 1194, 1199 ). 11 The mere magnitude of the seizures does not establish a violation of the federal Constitution. (U.S. v. Lambert, supra, 887 F.2d 1568, 1572-1573 ; United States v. Wuagneux, supra, 683 F.2d 1343, 1352 .)

Assuming that the remedy of total suppression is required when police conduct is in flagrant disregard of the limits of the warrant, we conclude that in the present case the trial court properly found that the application of that extreme remedy was not warranted and suppressed only items not covered by the warrant. Although the record indicates that the officers searched a vehicle and several storage locker areas that were not clearly named in the warrant, it also establishes that defendant had no reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to the vehicle and certain of the locker areas. It is also apparent that other locker areas in which he had such a reasonable expectation of privacy were within close proximity to the vehicles as well as to the lockers identified at the scene as being used by the inhabitants of defendant’s residence.

Although the officers seized a number of items that clearly fell outside the scope of the warrant, the record reveals that the bulk of these items might have had some bearing upon the current offenses. (United States v. Tamura, supra, 694 F.2d 591, 597 .) The several remarks by police witnesses indicative of a broader purpose do not establish a flagrant disregard of the limits of the warrant when considered in the context of the total testimony. The officers may have entertained the hope that evidence pertaining to unrelated crimes also would be discovered, but it is very apparent that the search was not simply a pretext for a general search for evidence of unrelated crimes. The record does not demonstrate that the officers had not been briefed or *1307 prepared as to the objects of the search (see United States v. Heldt, supra, 668 F.2d 1238, 1259-1262 ), or that their search amounted to a “fishing expedition.” (Cf. U.S. v. Medlin, supra, 842 F.2d 1194, 1199-1200 .) Nor was the behavior of the officers so unconscionable as to amount to a due process violation. (United States v. Tamura, supra, 694 F.2d 591, 597 .) Under these circumstances, the trial court did not err in declining to order the “extraordinary remedy” of total suppression of all items seized.

c. Motion to suppress defendant’s August 16,1984, statements to the police

During the trial, defendant moved to suppress the evidence of statements he made during an interrogation by the police conducted on August 16. Out of the presence of the jury, the trial court held a hearing on defendant’s motion to suppress the evidence, at which the following testimony was presented.

Upon defendant’s arrest on August 16, at approximately 6:45 p.m., Detectives St. John and Melleker attempted to interview him in an interrogation room at Parker Center in downtown Los Angeles. The conversation secretly was taped by the scientific investigation division (hereafter, SID), and was taped by an additional recording device inside a briefcase that Detective St. John brought to the interrogation room. The detectives informed defendant that they were part of the robbery-homicide division and wanted to speak to him about Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell. After they provided him with the advisements required by Miranda, defendant informed the detectives that he wished to have his attorney present dining questioning. Detective St. John switched off the recording device in his briefcase, and defendant was escorted from the room to telephone his attorney. The detectives left the room and instructed SID to cease recording.

At approximately 6:50 p.m., following several unsuccessful attempts to contact his attorney, defendant was escorted back to the interrogation room, where he was handcuffed to a chair and left alone. Detective Worthen, who earlier that day had informed Tracey’s mother that Tracey’s body had been discovered in the desert, and who recently had arrived at the squad room, was informed that defendant had invoked his constitutional rights. Several minutes later, Detective Worthen entered the interrogation room and had a brief conversation with defendant. Detective Worthen returned to the squad room and informed Detective St. John that defendant had called out to Detective Worthen and indicated that he now was willing to answer questions without the presence of his attorney. At approximately 7:25 p.m., Detective St. John advised SID to recommence taping, and the detectives, *1308 having repeated the advisements pursuant to Miranda and received a waiver of rights from defendant, began to question him. At times during the interview, defendant, who did not appear to be injured, laughed and engaged in friendly conversation with the detectives. The interview continued for approximately two hours until defendant requested an attorney and the questioning ceased.

At the hearing, the parties presented two contrasting accounts of the conversation between Detective Worthen and defendant that preceded the interview. Detective Worthen testified that, as he was walking past the interrogation room, defendant said, “Detective Worthen, can I talk to you?” After Detective Worthen entered the room, defendant stated he “did not understand what was going on.” Detective Worthen informed him that, just as in the earlier session when Detective Worthen had questioned defendant about Tracey Campbell, Detectives St. John and Melleker now wanted to ask him about Shari Miller and some photographs, and about the last time that defendant had seen Tracey Campbell. Defendant said he understood and now would be willing to answer the questions of the detectives. This conversation with Detective Worthen continued for approximately one minute, following which Worthen left the interrogation room.

Defendant testified initially that Detective Worthen entered the interrogation room prior to the time defendant was escorted outside to contact his attorney. During the course of his testimony, defendant indicated that after he was returned to the interrogation room and handcuffed to the chair, the door was closed and, within three minutes Detective Worthen, whom defendant knew from the interrogation following his previous arrest, entered the room and initiated a conversation with defendant. Detective Worthen informed defendant that he would find himself “in great bodily injury” if he did not cooperate with Detective St. John, that Detective Worthen had just returned from the desert where Tracey’s body had been found, and that if defendant did not speak to Detective St. John, Worthen would take defendant to the desert and leave him in the same condition as Tracey.

Following this testimony, the hearing was interrupted. When it was resumed five days later, defendant testified that the door to the interview room had been only partially closed. After Detective Worthen entered the room, in addition to making threatening comments, he had grabbed defendant’s shirt with both hands and shaken him, and had punched him in the lower back, at which point defendant could hear his ribs “popping.” During cross-examination, defendant further testified that Detective Worthen had forced a gun *1309 down defendant’s throat, injuring his teeth. Defendant testified that Detective Worthen’s threat to hurt defendant was not made conditional on defendant’s confession. 12

According to defendant, Detective Worthen left the room and Detectives St. John and Melleker returned, recommencing questioning. When defendant said nothing, Detective Worthen returned and remained near the door until defendant indicated he was willing to answer questions. Detective Worthen remained in the doorway for the first part of the interview. On more than one occasion, when defendant became evasive, Detective Worthen began to move inside the room. Defendant was in fear for his life when he decided to answer the questions, and answered them against his will during the entire two-hour interview. Defendant engaged in friendly conversation with the detectives in an attempt to pacify them. Several times during the course of the interview, defendant requested to speak to his attorney. Eventually, defendant terminated the interview, although he still felt himself to be in physical danger.

Defendant further testified that during the interview, he was asked several questions concerning his alleged rape of Julianne P., for which he faced formal charges that were approaching trial. According to defendant, Attorney Mark Gottesman, who represented defendant in that case and whom defendant had retained in the present two cases, attempted to contact defendant at 10:45 that evening, but was informed that defendant was in transit.

According to defendant, that evening, following completion of his booking, he asked to be examined by a physician, indicating to the jail guard that he had suffered injuries to his ribs and was having trouble breathing. The following day, defendant was examined by a physician who filed a report describing defendant’s complaints. The physician’s report indicated that defendant had stated that his lower ribs hurt and a rib had popped after he was hit in that area by Detective Worthen.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the prosecution conceded that any of defendant’s statements made during the interview pertaining to the Julianne P. case were inadmissible. The trial court agreed and ordered the references to that incident redacted from the tape and transcript to be presented to the jury. The trial court, while noting that the tape demonstrated that defendant had paused prior to assenting to talk to the detectives, determined that *1310 defendant’s subsequent waiver of his right to have counsel present dining the interview was valid and voluntary. The trial court based its determination upon the relative credibility of Detective Worthen and defendant, and upon the absence in the tape or transcript of any reference by defendant to the injuries that he allegedly had received prior to the interview.

(1) Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination

Defendant contends that the statements were obtained in violation of his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The standards enunciated in Miranda were “designed to assure protection of the federal Constitution’s Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination under ‘inherently coercive’ circumstances.” (People v. Sims (1993) 5 Cal.4th 405, 440 [ 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 537 , 853 P.2d 992 ].) Statements obtained by the police in violation of Miranda are inadmissible to establish guilt, (ibid.) “[Subsequent to the adoption of article I, section 28, subdivision (d) of the California Constitution, we apply federal standards in reviewing a defendant’s claim that his or her statements were elicited in violation of Miranda.” (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 129; People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440 .)

Under the familiar standards of Miranda, “ ‘a suspect may not be subjected to custodial interrogation unless he or she knowingly and intelligently has waived the right to remain silent, to the presence of an attorney, and to appointed counsel in the event the suspect is indigent.’ [Citation.] ‘Once having invoked these rights, the accused “is not subject to further interrogation by the authorities until counsel has been made available to him, unless the accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police.” ’ [Citations.]” (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128; see Edwards v. Arizona (1981) 451 U.S. 477, 484-485 [ 101 S.Ct. 1880, 1884-1885 , 68 L.Ed.2d 378 ]; Miranda v. Arizona, supra, 384 U.S. 436, 444-445, 473-474 [ 86 S.Ct. 1602, 1612-1613, 1627-1628 ]; see also McNeil v. Wisconsin (1991) 501 U.S. 171, 176-177 [ 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207-2209 , 115 L.Ed.2d 158 ]; Arizona v. Roberson (1988) 486 U.S. 675, 680-682 [ 108 S.Ct. 2093, 2097-2098 , 100 L.Ed.2d 704 ].) “If, subsequently, assuming there is no break in custody, the police initiate a meeting in the absence of counsel, the suspect’s statements are presumed involuntary and are inadmissible as substantive evidence at trial, even if the suspect executes a waiver and the statements would be considered voluntary under traditional standards. [Citations.]” (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128.)

“The initiation of further dialogue by the accused, however, does not in itself justify reinterrogation. (Oregon v. Bradshaw (1983) 462 U.S. *1311 1039, 1044 [ 103 S.Ct. 2830, 2834 , 77 L.Ed.2d 405 ].) ‘[E]ven if a conversation taking place after the accused has “expressed his desire to deal with the police only through counsel,” is initiated by the accused, where reinterrogation follows, the burden remains upon the prosecution to show that subsequent events indicated a waiver of the Fifth Amendment right to have counsel present during the interrogation.’ (Ibid.)” (People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440 .) Therefore, it is clear that a conversation may be resumed in the absence of counsel only if the “accused himself initiates further communication, exchanges, or conversations with the police” (Edwards v. Arizona, supra, 451 U.S. 477, 484-485 [ 101 S.Ct. 1880, 1885 ]) and the circumstances indicate that the accused has made a knowing and intelligent waiver of the right to an attorney. (Oregon v. Bradshaw (1983) 462 U.S. 1039, 1044-1045 [ 103 S.Ct. 2830, 2834-2835 , 77 L.Ed.2d 405 ].)

The scope of our review of constitutional claims of this nature is well established. When the facts are disputed, we must accept the trial court’s resolution of disputed facts and inferences, and its evaluations of credibility, if they are substantially supported. (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 128 .) We independently must determine from the undisputed facts, and those properly found by the trial court, whether the challenged statements were illegally obtained. (Ibid.; People v. Johnson (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1, 25 [ 23 Cal.Rptr.2d 593 , 859 P.2d 673 ]; People v. Mattson (1990) 50 Cal.3d 826, 857-858 [ 268 Cal.Rptr. 802 , 789 P.2d 983 ]; People v. Boyer (1989) 48 Cal.3d 247, 263 [ 256 Cal.Rptr. 96 , 768 P.2d 610 ].)

In the present case, defendant’s query as to “what was going on” would not in itself have been sufficient to establish his reinitiation of contact. (Oregon v. Bradshaw, supra, 462 U.S. 1039, 1042 [ 103 S.Ct. 2830, 2833 ]; People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 440.) According to Detective Worthen, however, defendant went further and on his own initiative expressed his willingness to speak with the detectives. The record of the subsequent interview confirms that, at its commencement, defendant expressed a willingness to speak following readvisement of his rights pursuant to Miranda . Therefore, with respect to whether defendant’s reinitiation of communication and knowing and voluntary waiver were established, the determination turns upon whether Detective Worthen’s version or defendant’s version of their meeting was the more credible one.

The trial court’s resolution of the disputed facts and inferences pertaining to the contact between the two witnesses, and that court’s evaluation of their credibility, is substantially supported by the evidence adduced at the hearing. Detective Worthen’s account was plausible and was confirmed in various respects by that of Detective St. John, who spoke both with Worthen and defendant prior to and following their encounter.

*1312 By contrast, defendant’s testimony was inconsistent in a number of particulars, including as to whether Detective Worthen approached him prior to or following defendant’s attempts to contact his attorney, whether the door to the interrogation room was open or closed when Detective Worthen approached him, and whether Detective Worthen was present during the interview. Defendant also appeared to embellish his recollection of asserted instances of Detective Worthen’s threats or violent conduct, after defendant had had an opportunity to reflect upon the circumstances of their encounter. Defendant, having mentioned only verbal threats during the initial portion of his testimony, five days later described being physically assaulted, and still later during cross-examination stated he had been attacked and injured with a gun. Belatedly, defendant also reported an earlier attack by Detective Worthen that he claimed had induced him to participate in the initial interview commencing on July 31. As described above, that interview lasted several hours on that date and seven to ten hours on the following date until defendant requested an attorney.

Moreover, defendant’s credibility was impaired by the tape-recorded interview itself. Although defendant testified that, having just been punched in the ribs and injured in the mouth with a gun, he was in fear during the entire interview, the tapes of that interview reveal that he laughed and had friendly conversation with his interviewers. Defendant testified that he requested an attorney as many as four times during the interview, but the tape and transcript reveal no such requests. Nor do the tapes and transcriptions of the previous interview suggest that any prior attack had occurred.

In view of the testimony presented, the trial court’s determinations that defendant had initiated the renewed questioning, and that his express waiver was knowing and voluntary, were supported by substantial evidence. Accordingly, we sustain the trial court’s finding that defendant waived his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

(2) Sixth Amendment right to counsel

Defendant contends that the statements were obtained in violation of his Sixth Amendment right to an attorney under Massiah v. United States (1964) 377 U.S. 201, 205 [ 84 S.Ct. 1199, 1202-1203 , 12 L.Ed.2d 246 ], which provides that, once the right to counsel has attached, a subsequent waiver during a police-initiated interview is ineffective. Because an accused has a Sixth Amendment right to counsel only with respect to formal charges brought, however, Massiah requires the suppression of only those incriminating statements made concerning such charges. (People v. Sully (1991) 53 Cal.3d 1195, 1233-1234 [ 283 Cal.Rptr. 144 , 812 P.2d 163 ]; People v. Hovey *1313 (1988) 44 Cal.3d 543, 561 ( 244 Cal.Rptr. 121 , 749 P.2d 776 ]; see In re Wilson (1992) 3 Cal.4th 945, 950-951 [ 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 269 , 838 P.2d 1222 ].) Even after an accused has counsel with regard to a particular charged offense, he or she may be questioned by police following Miranda advisements with respect to any uncharged offense. (McNeil v. Wisconsin, supra, 501 U.S. 171, 175-177 [ 111 S.Ct. 2204, 2207-2209 ].) Incriminating statements pertaining to those uncharged offenses, as to which the Sixth Amendment right has not yet attached, are admissible at a subsequent trial of those offenses. (Maine v. Moulton (1985) 474 U.S. 159,180, fn. 16 [ 106 S.Ct. 477, 489 , 88 L.Ed.2d 481 ]; People v. Sully, supra, 53 Cal.3d 1195, 1234 .)

Defendant contends that the statements he made without benefit of counsel, concerning the offenses for which he had not yet formally been charged (the murders of Shari Miller and Tracey Campbell), materially interfered with his right to representation with respect to the formally charged offense (the rape of Julianne P.). In addressing the issue, both defendant and the People implicitly or explicitly rely upon language in People v. Sully, supra, 53 Cal.3d 1195 , which stated that such interference with the right to representation regarding the charged offense might occur where the charged and uncharged offenses are “ ‘so inextricably enmeshed that factually and conceptually it was virtually impossible to distinguish the events.’ ” (Id. at p. 1234.) The circumstances of the earlier rape and those of the present murders clearly do not meet those criteria. As our more recent decisions make clear, defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel had not yet attached in the present, uncharged murders, and the circumstance that defendant previously had been charged and incarcerated and counsel appointed in the wholly unrelated rape does not compel a contrary conclusion. (People v. Webb (1993) 6 Cal.4th 494, 527 [ 24 Cal.Rptr.2d 779 , 862 P.2d 779 ]; People v. Wader (1993) 5 Cal.4th 610, 635-636 [ 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 788 , 854 P.2d 80 ]; People v. Clair (1992) 2 Cal.4th 629, 657-658 [ 7 Cal.Rptr.2d 564 , 828 P.2d 705 ].)

Moreover, even assuming that the trial court erred in admitting defendant’s statements, and further assuming that, considered as admissions, these were subject to the same standard of review for prejudice applicable to confessions (Arizona v. Fulminante (1991) 499 U.S. 279, 306-310 [ 111 S.Ct. 1246, 1262-1265 , 113 L.Ed.2d 302 ] [federal constitutional “trial error” such as admission of involuntary confession subject to harmless error analysis of Chapman v. California (1967) 386 U.S. 18 ( 87 S.Ct. 824 , 17 L.Ed.2d 705 , 24 A.L.R.3d 1065 )]; People v. Cahill (1993) 5 Cal.4th 478, 509-510 [ 20 Cal.Rptr.2d 582 , 853 P.2d 1037 ] [California Constitution does not require stricter standard]; see People v. Sims, supra, 5 Cal.4th 405, 447 ), the admission of this evidence was not prejudicial. The substance of defendant’s *1314 account simply confirmed the statements he had given at the interviews following his arrest on July 31. Although defendant informed the officers of a few new details of his contacts with Shari, such as that she had arranged (but subsequently failed) to meet defendant at the Meat Market bar on the evening of the same day she visited defendant at his apartment (in his account, occurring during the last part of June), the new information he provided was not itself incriminating. Although defendant provided a few additional details of his meeting with Tracey’s family, and reported dropping off Tracey at a coffee shop on Venice Boulevard rather than on the comer as he previously had reported, defendant did not materially alter the substance of his previous account, and the information he provided was not inculpatory. Although the officers, by advising defendant that they could place defendant and Shari in the same desert location in which Tracey’s body had been discovered, did elicit defendant’s statement that “I can’t explain it to you,” nonetheless, when one officer asked defendant directly whether he had killed Shari or Tracey, defendant responded “No sir.” There is no reasonable possibility that the verdict would have been more favorable to defendant had these statements not been admitted. (Chapman v. California, supra, 386 U.S. 18, 34 [ 87 S.Ct. 824, 832-833 ].)

2. Denial of motion for severance of the two murder counts

Defendant contends that the trial court improperly denied his motion to sever defendant’s trial on the count alleging the murder of Tracey Campbell from the count alleging the murder of Shari Miller. In particular, he contends that in making its determination that the evidence would have been cross-admissible in separate trials because of the existence of a common modus operandi, the trial court erred in relying upon the circumstance that Shari Miller was murdered in the desert. Defendant asserts that the common features of each murder were not sufficiently unique to establish a common modus operandi. He also contends that the trial court erred in failing to consider the ensuing prejudice to defendant. 13

Section 954 provides that “[a]n accusatory pleading may charge . . . two or more different offenses of the same class of crimes or offenses, under separate counts, . . . provided, that the court in which a case is triable, in the interests of justice and for good cause shown, may in its discretion order that the different offenses or counts set forth in the accusatory pleading be *1315 tried separately or divided into two or more groups and each of said groups tried separately.” Because both offenses involved murder and thus belonged to the same class of crimes, the statutory requirements for joinder were satisfied. Therefore, defendant can predicate error in denying the motion to sever only upon a clear showing of potential prejudice. (People v. Osband (1996) 13 Cal.4th 622, 666 [ 55 Cal.Rptr.2d 26 , 919 P.2d 640 ]; People v. Sandoval (1992) 4 Cal.4th 155, 172-173 [ 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 342 , 841 P.2d 862 ], affd. sub nom. Victor v. Nebraska (1994) 511 U.S. 1 [ 114 S.Ct. 1239 , 127 L.Ed.2d 583 ].)

In reviewing this claim, we apply the familiar standard of review providing that the trial court’s ruling may be reversed only if the court has abused its discretion. (People v. Mayfield (1997) 14 Cal.4th 668, 720 [ 60 Cal.Rptr.2d 1 , 928 P.2d 485 ]; People v. Davis (1995) 10 Cal.4th 463, 508 [ 41 Cal.Rptr.2d 826 , 896 P.2d 119 ]; see People v. Osband, supra, 13 Cal.4th 622, 666 ; People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1284 [ 18 Cal.Rptr.2d 796 , 850 P.2d 1 ].) An abuse of discretion may be found when the trial court’s ruling “ ‘falls outside the bounds of reason.’ ” (People v. Osband, supra, 13 Cal.4th 622, 666 .)

“ ‘The burden is on the party seeking severance to clearly establish that there is a substantial danger of prejudice requiring that the charges be separately tried.’ [Citation.] [*][] ‘The determination of prejudice is necessarily dependent on the particular circumstances of each individual case, but certain criteria have emerged to provide guidance in ruling upon and reviewing a motion to sever trial.’ [Citation.] Refusal to sever may be an abuse of discretion where: (1) evidence on the crimes to be jointly tried would not be cross-admissible in separate trials; (2) certain of the charges are unusually likely to inflame the jury against the defendant; (3) a ‘weak’ case has been joined with a ‘strong’ case, or with another ‘weak’ case, so that the ‘spillover’ effect of aggregate evidence on several charges might well alter the outcome of some or all of the charges; and (4) any one of the charges carries the death penalty or joinder of them turns the matter into a capital case. [Citations.]” (People v. Sandoval, supra, 4 Cal.4th 155, 172-173; People v. Mayfield, supra, 14 Cal.4th 668, 721 ; People v. Memro (1995) 11 Cal.4th 786, 849-850 [ 47 Cal.Rptr.2d 219 , 905 P.2d 1305 ]; People v. Davis, supra, 10 Cal.4th 463, 507-508 ; People v. Mason (1991) 52 Cal.3d 909, 933-934 [ 277 Cal.Rptr. 166 , 802 P.2d 950 ]; Williams v. Superior Court (1984) 36 Cal.3d 441, 452-454 [ 204 Cal.Rptr. 700 , 683 P.2d 699 ].)

Furthermore, we have observed that the criteria enumerated in Sandoval are not equally significant. “[T]he first step in assessing whether a combined trial [would have been] prejudicial is to determine whether evidence on each *1316 of the joined charges would have been admissible, under Evidence Code section 1101, in separate trials on the others. If so, any inference of prejudice is dispelled.” (People v. Balderas (1985) 41 Cal.3d 144, 171-172 [ 222 Cal.Rptr. 184 , 711 P.2d 480 ]; see People v. Mayfield, supra, 14 Cal.4th 668, 721 .) Cross-admissibility suffices to negate prejudice, but it is not essential for that purpose. Although “ ‘we have held that cross-admissibility ordinarily dispels any inference of prejudice, we have never held that the absence of cross-admissibility, by itself, sufficed to demonstrate prejudice.’ ” (People v. Sandoval, supra, 4 Cal.4th 155, 173.)

In the present case, the prosecutor urged, and the trial court found, that evidence of each incident would have been cross-admissible in a separate trial of the charge relating to the other incident because the incidents disclosed a distinctive modus operandi tending to establish the killer’s identity. Pursuant to Evidence Code section 1101, subdivision (b), evidence that a defendant has committed an offense, although inadmissible to demonstrate a defendant’s disposition to commit crimes, may be received to establish, among other things, identity, intent, motive, or plan. To be admissible to demonstrate a distinctive modus operandi, the evidence must disclose common marks or identifiers, that, considered singly or in combination, support a strong inference that the defendant committed both crimes. (People v. Miller (1990) 50 Cal.3d 954, 988-989 [ 269 Cal.Rptr. 492 , 790 P.2d 1289 ]; People v. Bean (1988) 46 Cal.3d 919, 937 [ 251 Cal.Rptr. 467 , 760 P.2d 996 ]; see People v. Memro, supra, 11 Cal.4th 786, 851 ; People v. Ewoldt (1994) 7 Cal.4th 380, 403 [ 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 646 , 867 P.2d 757 ].)

The trial court found, based upon the record of the preliminary hearing as well as the evidence presented at the hearing on the motion to suppress, that, in common, the victims were young White females who died as a result of ligature strangulation, were tied up, were killed approximately within nine days of each other, were acquainted with defendant, were induced to accompany him as a result of their belief that defendant would photograph them in furtherance of their professional modeling ambitions, and prior to and near the time of their deaths had accompanied defendant to a particular remote, fairly inaccessible desert area that he previously had visited. The trial court further determined that the proximity in time of the two murders, the victims’ prior relationships with defendant, the nature of their inducement to accompany defendant, and the desert location where they both were present at or near the time of death, were significantly distinctive and common marks which, considered together with the more general common characteristics, demonstrated numerous and significant similarities in the two homicides sufficient to establish a common modus operandi and raise a strong inference that it was defendant who had committed each offense.

*1317 Defendant contends that the trial court erred in relying upon the circumstance that both victims were killed in the desert, because there was no evidence that Shari actually was killed in the desert. The evidence considered by the trial court demonstrated that Shari was present with defendant in that remote area of the desert during a period near the time of her death. The trial court did not state that it relied upon the circumstance that both victims were killed at that location but rather, that at or near the time of death, both had been with defendant at that location.

Defendant asserts that the identifying factors employed by the trial court were similar to those in People v. Bean, supra, 46 Cal.3d 919 , in which this court held that the common factors that purported to establish a modus operandi were insufficient. In that case, we concluded that the circumstances that both victims were females of the same age who were killed within three days of each other, in the same general vicinity and consistently with the same general scheme to burglarize their residences, were insufficiently distinctive to permit a finding of a common modus operandi. We noted that in one offense two assailants entered a couple’s residence through a window, attacked the victim with a ball peen hammer, and took substantial property, whereas in the other, a single assailant gained entry through the door and took a purse, causing the victim to die of a heart attack. (Id. at pp. 937-938.)

In the present case, the circumstances that defendant was acquainted with each victim, had utilized the career and monetary ambitions of each to induce her to accompany him, and had taken each victim to the same remote desert location during a period at or preceding the commission of each murder, when considered together with the other similar but less unusual or singular features of each case, present considerably more distinctive common features than those before the court in Bean . The trial court correctly ruled that the evidence of both murders was cross-admissible. Contrary to defendant’s additional assertion, the trial court did not subsequently fail to consider the potential prejudice to defendant from a joint trial despite that finding, but merely stated it would not dwell at length on the issue of prejudice, because the prejudice to defendant that would arise from joinder was outweighed by considerations of probative value.

Having concluded the trial court correctly determined the issue of cross-admissibility, we need not analyze the other factors described above. (See People v. Mayfield, supra, 14 Cal.4th 668, 721 .) Nonetheless, we observe that even had defendant demonstrated that the evidence would not have been cross-admissible, he has failed to establish prejudice. He has not shown that one of the offenses was significantly more likely to inflame the jury against defendant, since the murders were similar in nature and equally gruesome. *1318 Defendant has not shown that evidence of guilt was significantly stronger in one case, creating the danger that that case would be used to bolster the weaker case, because the prosecutor’s evidence was nearly equal in strength as to both offenses. (See ibid.)

The present case is one in which the joinder itself gave rise to the special circumstance allegation (multiple murder, § 190.2, subd. (a)(3)), requiring that a higher degree of scrutiny be given the issue of joinder. (Williams v. Superior Court, supra, 36 Cal.3d 441, 454 ; cf. People v. Sandoval, supra, 4 Cal.4th 155, 173.) It is apparent that the trial court heard extensive argument by counsel on the issue and scrutinized the evidence very closely. Our review has not disclosed any abuse of discretion by the trial court in denying defendant’s motion to sever. Nor has defendant demonstrated that prejudice actually resulted from the joinder of the charges at trial. (People v. Memro, supra, 11 Cal.4th 786, 851 ; People v. Hill (1995) 34 Cal.App.4th 727, 735 [ 41 Cal.Rptr.2d 39 ].)

3. Excusad for cause of prospective jurors

Defendant contends that he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to a fair and impartial jury because, following the prosecutor’s challenge for cause and defense objection, the trial court excused two prospective jurors, Carolyn Stewart and Glen McCanlies, on the basis of their statements indicating they would be unable to apply the death penalty law. Whether the contention is, as in the present case, that the trial court erred in excluding prospective jurors who exhibited an anti-death bias, or erred in failing to exclude prospective jurors who exhibited a pro-death bias, the same standard has been held to apply. (People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 121; People v. Pride (1992) 3 Cal.4th 195, 227-228 [ 10 Cal.Rptr.2d 636 , 833 P.2d 643 ]; People v. Mincey (1992) 2 Cal.4th 408, 456 [ 6 Cal.Rptr.2d 822 , 827 P.2d 388 ].) A juror may be challenged for cause based upon his or her views concerning capital punishment only if those views would “prevent or substantially impair” the performance of the juror’s duties as defined by the court’s instructions and the juror’s oath. (Morgan v. Illinois (1992) 504 U.S. 719, 728 [ 112 S.Ct. 2222, 2229 , 119 L.Ed.2d 492 ]; Wainwright v. Witt (1985) 469 U.S. 412, 424 [ 105 S.Ct. 844, 852 , 83 L.Ed.2d 841 ]; see Witherspoon v. Illinois (1968) 391 U.S. 510 [ 88 S.Ct. 1770 , 20 L.Ed.2d 776 ]; People v. Crittenden, supra, 9 Cal.4th 83, 120-121; People v. Payton (1992) 3 Cal.4th 1050,1062-1063 [ 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 526 , 839 P.2d 1035 ]; People v. Mincey, supra, 2 Cal.4th 408, 456 .) “More specifically, the determinant is ‘whether the juror’s views about capital punishment would prevent or impair the juror’s ability to return a verdict of death in the case before the juror.' ” (People v. Hill (1992) 3 Cal.4th 959, 1003 [ 13 *1319 Cal.Rptr.2d 475 , 839 P.2d 984 ], original italics.) If the prospective juror’s responses to voir dire questions are conflicting or equivocal, the trial court’s determination of the juror’s true state of mind is binding upon the reviewing court. (People v. Mayfield, supra, 14 Cal.4th 668, 727 ; People v. Cummings, supra, 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1279; People v. Hill, supra, 3 Cal.4th 959, 1004 ; People v. Mincey, supra, 2 Cal.4th 408, 456-457 .)

In the present case, prospective juror Stewart, asked by the court during voir dire examination whether she was in favor of, opposed to, or neutral regarding the death penalty, responded that it would be very hard to take someone else’s life in her own hands. Asked whether she automatically would vote against a verdict of death regardless of the evidence, she responded that she was not sure, but was even less in favor of that penalty than at the time she had completed the juror questionnaire. Asked whether, if she concluded that the circumstances warranted the death penalty, she could return to the courtroom, look defendant in the eye and indicate her vote in favor of the death penalty, she said, “I rather doubt it.” Asked to explain why, she indicated she did not feel that she had a right to take another person’s life. Asked to conceive of any case in which she could envision voting for death, she explained that there might be an offense “so obnoxious” that she could bring herself to do it, perhaps if a child were involved, but could not envision any other type of case. When asked whether she could inform defendant that she had voted for a verdict of death, she indicated “Perhaps, yes.”

Questioned by defense counsel how she would vote on the death penalty as a member of the electorate, prospective juror Stewart “would probably say no.” Further queried whether she was not “automatically, absolutely in every case opposed” but was “mostly opposed,” she responded affirmatively and indicated that perhaps there were situations in which she could render a death verdict. She stated she would attempt to follow the court’s instructions and believed in the law, but would not know until the decision had to be made whether she could render a death verdict.

When asked by the prosecutor whether she could look defendant in the eye and sentence him to die in the gas chamber, prospective juror Stewart responded, “I really don’t know,” and stated that she found it very difficult to accept responsibility for the decision to render a death verdict. She indicated that previously she had justified the death penalty as a deterrent but no longer was certain the penalty was a deterrent, and prior to hearing any evidence would be more inclined to vote for life in prison without the possibility of parole. She indicated she would not vote for a verdict other than guilty of first degree murder just in order to avoid facing the question of *1320 the death penalty, but did not know whether she could impose the death penalty in the present case.

Prospective juror McCanlies indicated in the juror questionnaire, and informed the court, that he was opposed to the death penalty. Questioned by the court as to how strong his feelings were, McCanlies stated he could conceive of imposing the penalty only if that would bring the victim back to life. He stated that his principles were that executing a human being is never justified under any circumstances, regardless of the evidence. McCanlies indicated he would be unable to return to the courtroom and inform defendant that McCanlies had voted for death under any circumstances unless “something like espionage” were involved.

When asked by defense counsel to conceive of circumstances in which he could render a death verdict, McCanlies suggested he could do so in the case of a death commandant, “grinding out victims by the thousands on a monthly basis,” or where a hired killer performed premeditated mass murder of schoolchildren. He acknowledged that there are circumstances in which a person is so dangerous to society that he or she has to be removed. When questioned whether he could listen to the evidence and consider the death penalty, McCanlies indicated that he did not know. He indicated he would listen to the judge’s instructions and follow the law, also stating he would “to the very last minute resist” imposing the death penalty.

We are satisfied that the trial court did not err in granting the prosecutor’s challenges for cause to these two prospective jurors. Both jurors expressed views indicative of an unalterable preference against the death penalty. Accordingly, their statements that they would follow the law would not “rehabilitate” them. (Morgan v. Illinois, supra, 504 U.S. 719, 734-736 [ 112 S.Ct. 2222, 2232-2234 ].)

Although both jurors indicated they could impose the death penalty in specified, particularly extreme cases, their hypothetical examples presented more egregious facts than those involved in the present case. (See e.g., People v. Cummings, supra, 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1280-1281 [for-cause excusal proper when juror could impose death penalty in “awfully horrendous” case but “probably” would vote automatically for life imprisonment]; People v. Payton, supra, 3 Cal.4th 1050, 1063 [for-cause excusal proper when juror would vote automatically for life imprisonment but allowed for death penalty “ ‘in the most aggravated case you can imagine’ ”].) Their examples were not analogous to the circumstances of the murders at issue in the proceedings before them. (See People v. Hill, supra, 3 Cal.4th 959, 1003 .)

Even though to some extent the responses of both prospective jurors, and Stewart’s responses in particular, were conflicting and ambiguous, as indicated above the trial court’s determinations as

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