# Petition for Writ of Certiorari — California v. Gutierrez

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## Record

- **Collection:** Supreme Court brief
- **Document type:** Petition for Writ of Certiorari
- **Published:** January 1, 1995
- **Citation:** 514 U.S. 1049

## Text

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(\) Supreme Court, u.$
FILED

No. 94 246 OCT 24 j99

IN TH@FFICE OF THE CLERK
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
October Term, 1994

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
PETITIONER,

ABRAHAM GUTIERREZ,
RESPONDENT.
On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Seven

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI

GIL GARCETTI
District Attorney
County of Los Angeles, California

GEORGE M. PALMER
Acting Head Deputy
Appellate Division

GEORGE G. SIZE
BRENT RIGGS (Counsel of Record)
Deputy District Attorneys

849 South Broadway, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90014-3570
Telephone: (213) 974-1615

—_ —— SST

ee

QUESTION PRESENTED

A California jury convicted the defendant of crimes of
violence, and the state appellate courts affirmed the convictions.
After the affirmance, the victim of the crimes died, allegedly
from the injuries the defendant inflicted upon her in the crimes
of which he had been convicted. As a result, the state has now
charged the defendant with the victim’s murder.

Does the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment
require the state trial court in the pending murder trial to allow
the defendant to religate the issues resolved by these prior
convictions?

_ me 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUESTION PRESENTED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF AUTHORITIES
OPINION BELOW
JURISDICTION

CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY
PROVISIONS INVOLVED

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

A. The Facts Surrounding the Crime
and the First Prosecution and Trial

B. How the Federal Question was Presented
Below and Resolved by the Court of Appeal

REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE OF THE WRIT
I. Itis Appropriate to Allow the Writ Before Trial
II. The Decision Below Underscores the Growing
Split in both Federal and State Courts
Inspired by Dicta in Opinions from this Court

III. The Decision Below is Wrong and Involves a
Matter of Public Importance

CONCLUSION

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10

1]

15

24

APPENDIX —

Opinions below A-1l

Majority opinion A-2

Dissenting opinion A-24 )
Order denying rehearing A-35 |
Order denying review A-36 |
Stay order A-37 |
California statutes and rules involved in the issues A-39 |

1V

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TABLE OF AUTHORITIES

Cases
Ashe v. Swenson
397 U.S. 436 (1970)

Auto Equity Sales, Inc. v. Superior Court
57 Cal.2d 450 (1962)

Brittain v. Kinnaird
1 Brod. & B. (1819)

Carella v. California
491 U.S. 263 (1989)

Carmody v. Seventh Judicial District Court
81 Nev. 83 (1965)

Commonwealth v. Ellis
160 Mass. 165 (1893)

Commonwealth v. Evans
101 Mass. 25 (1869)

Commonwealth v. Feldman
131 Mass. 588 (1881)

Diaz v. United States
223 U.S. 442 (1912)

F.HA. v. The Darlington
358 U.S. 84 (1958)

Frank v. Mangum
237 U.S. 309 (1915)

Pages

7, 8, 12, 16

15

16, 17

21

22

13, 18

20, 21

Gutierrez v. Superior Court
24 Cal.App.4th 153 (1994)

Hernandez-Unribe v. United States
515 F.2d 20 (CA8 1975)

Hopkins v. Lee
6 Wheat. 109 (1821)

In re Winship
397 U.S. 358 (1970)

Kirby v. United States
174 U.S. 47 (1899)

Kowts v. Howard
3 Cal.4th 888 (1992)

Pena-Cabanillas v. United States
394 F.2d 785 (CA9 1968)

Pennsylvania v. Ritchie
480 U.S. 39 (1987)

People v. Bivens
231 Cal.App.3d 653 (1991)

People v. Ford
65 Cal.2d 41 (1966)

People v. Goss
200 Mich.App. $ (1993)

People v. Gutierrez
10 Cal.App.4th 1720 (1992)

ll

21

21

10

12, 13

3, 5, 23

People v. Majado
22 Cal.App.2d 323 (1937) 19

Sealfon v. United States
332 U.S. 575 (1948) 14, 16

Simpson v. Florida
403 U.S. 384 (1971) 7,8

Southern Pacific Railroad Co. v. United States é
168 U.S. 1 (1897) 20

State v. Braskett
10 Ohio Ops. 947 (Ct. Common Pleas 1959) 20

State v. Ingenito
87 N.J. 204 (1981) 7, 9, 12, 13

State v. Johnson
134 N.H. 498 (1991) 7,8

United States v. Bruno
333 F.Supp. 570 (E.D.Pa. 1971) 12

United States v. Carlisi
32 F.Supp. 479 (E.D.N.Y. 1940) 12

United States v. Colacurcto
514 F.2d 1 (CA9 1975) ll

United States v. De Angelo
138 F.2d 466 (CA3 1943) 12

United States v. Dixon
509 U:S. (1993) 7, 22

United States v. Kirby
7 Wall 482 (1868)

United States v. Oppenheimer
242 U.S. 85 (1916)

United States v. Pelullo
14 F.3d 881 (CA3 1994)

United States v. Pryba
680 F.Supp. 790 (E.D.Va. 1988)

United States v. Rangel-Perez
179 F.Supp. 619 (S.D.Cal. 1959)

Constitutions, Statutes and Rules
United States Constitution
Article III, section 2

Amendment V
Amendment VI
Amendment VII
Amendment XIV
California Evidence Code section 402

California Penal Code
Section 187

Section 189

Section 190, subdivision (a)

viii

19

16, 17

12, 13, 18, 21

13

11, 12

3, 23

Section 246
Section 664, subdivision 1
Section 12022.5, subdivisions (a), (b)
Section 12022.7
California Rules of Court, Rule 24(a)

New Jersey Constitution, Article I, section 9

Other Authorities

Vestal, Issue Preclusion and Criminal Prosecutions
65 Iowa Law Review 281

1X

No.

a

IN THE
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
October Term, 1994

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
PETITIONER,

We

ABRAHAM GUTIERREZ,
RESPONDENT.

On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the
California Court of Appeal,
Second District, Division Seven

PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI

The People of the State of California respectfully petition for
a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the Court of
Appeal for the State of California, Second Appellate District,
Division Seven, in this case.

OPINION BELOW

The opinion of the Court of Appeal (App., post, A-1 to A-34)
is reported as Gutierrez v. Superior Court, 24 Cal.App.4th 153,
29 Cal.Rptr.2d 376 (1994).

JURISDICTION

The Court of Appeal entered its judgment on April 15, 1994,
and denied a rehearing on May 10, 1994. On August 11, 1994,
the California Supreme Court denied a timely petition for review.

2

Title 28, United States Code, section 1257(a), confers jurisdic-
tion on the Court.

CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATUTORY
PROVISIONS INVOLVED

"The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment,
shall be by Jury; ...." U.S. Const., Art. III, § 2.

"No person . . . shall be compelled in any criminal case to be
a witness against himself, nor deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law;...." U.S. CONST.,
Amend. V.

"In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right
to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and
district wherein the crime shall have been committed, . . . and to
be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; . . . .". U.S. CONST.,
Amend. VI.

"In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved,
and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any
Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the
common law." U.S. CONST., Amend. VII.

"[N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law... ." U.S. CONST.,
Amend. XIV, § 1.

The appendix, post, contains the text of California statutes
involved in the issues in this case.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

The Los Angeles County District Attorney, representing the
People of the State of California, filed an information in the Los
Angeles County Superior Court charging Abraham Gutierrez
with the murder of Sandra Zarate. The People of the state are
the petitioner here, and Gutierrez is the respondent. The District
Attorney asked the superior court for an order barring Gutierrez
from relitigating the issues resolved by his previous convictions
for shooting at the car in which Zarate rode,’ attempting to
murder her (without premeditation and deliberation),” and
personally and intentionally inflicting great bodily injury upon
her by shooting at the car.* The superior court ruled that
Gutierrez could not litigate those issues at his murder trial.

Gutierrez petitioned the California Court of Appeal, Second
District, for a writ of prohibition challenging the trial court’s
ruling. The Court of Appeal summarily denied the petition, but
the California Supreme Court granted Gutierrez’s petition for
review and ordered the matter transferred to the Court of Appeal
with instructions to that court to issue an alternative writ. The
Court of Appeal issued the alternative writ and, after receiving a
return and answer from the People and a reply from Gutierrez
and hearing oral argument, issued its published opinion and
order for issuance of a peremptory writ directing the trial court
to vacate its ruling and to deny the District Attorney’s motion.
One justice dissented. The Court of Appeal summarily denied

1. See CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE section 246. App., post,A-39 to A-40.

2. See CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE, sections 187, 189, and 664. App., post,
A-39, A-40.

3. The jury found three allegations true under CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE
sections 12022.5, subdivisions (a), (b), and 12022.7, respectively, App., post,
A-40 to A-41, as they read at the time of Gutierrez's crimes. See Peoplev.
Gutierrez, 10 Cal.App.4th at 1737, 13 Cal.Rptr.2d 464 (1992).

4

the People’s petition for rehearing, App., post, A-35, and the
California Supreme Court summarily denied further review,
although one justice would have granted review. Id. at A-36.
The Court of Appeal has granted the People’s request for a stay
of the issuance of its remittitur, effectively staying Gutierrez’s
murder trial until such time as proceedings are concluded in this
Court. Id. at A-37 to A-38.

A. The Facts Surrounding the Crime and the First
Prosecution and Trial

In the pending murder case, the District Attorney has asserted,
the trial court has agreed, and neither Gutierrez nor the opinion
of the Court of Appeal below has ever disputed this fact: The
jury necessarily determined Gutierrez had committed the same
criminal acts alleged to have caused Zarate’s death in the instant
case when the jury found him guilty of attempting to murder
Zarate, etc., in the previous prosecution.* The opinion of the
Court of Appeal states facts surrounding those acts, which
occurred on June 2, 1990:

[Gutierrez] was at a friend’s house drinking beer with 30 to
40 of his acquaintances when Zarate and three others drove
by; [Gutierrez] and his friends threw beer cans and
shouted gang slogans as the car passed; [Gutierrez] pursued
the car on a motorcycle; while a second person drove the
motorcycle, [Gutierrez] sat on the back with a gun and
shot Zarate in the head.

App., post, A-2; see Ret. and Answer, App. E therein, Informa-
tion KA004789. "At the time of the trial, Ms. Zarate remained
hospitalized in a coma, suffering brain damage from the gunshot

4. Jeopardy does not bar Gutierrez's murder trial. Diaz v. United States,
223 U.S. 442, 448-449, 32 S.Ct. 250, 56 L.Ed. 500 (1912); Peoplev. Bivens,
231 Cal.App.3d 653, 282 Cal.Rptr. 438 (1991). See App., post,A-6, fn. 2.

5

wound to the head." People v. Gutierrez, supra, 10 Cal.App.4th
at 1733.

Concerning the prosecution and trial for the attempted
murder, the Court of Appeal said:

{ Gutierrez’s] defense was mistaken identity, two defense
witnesses testified that [Gutierrez] was not the shooter.
The jury found [Gutierrez] guilty of discharging a gun into
an occupied motor vehicle (count 2) and attempted murder
(count 1), but found the attempt to commit murder was
not willful, deliberate, and premeditated; the jury also
found true the allegations that [Gutierrez] personally used
a firearm and intentionally and personally inflicted great
bodily injury on Zarate. [Gutierrez] was sentenced to state
| prison for a total term of 18 years and 8 months. The
judgment was affirmed on appeal in [People v. Gutierrez,
supra, 10 Cal.App.4th 1729 (1992)].

App., post, A-2 to A-3.
The opinion of the Court of Appeal summarizes the proceed-
ings in the Superior Court in this case, as follows:

After Zarate’s death in January 1993, the People filed in
July 1993 an information charging [Gutierrez] with
murder. At a pretrial conference on August 4, 1993, the
prosecutor informed the court that the People would be
seeking a jury instruction that the only issue to be decided
is whether Zarate’s death was caused by a gunshot wound
to her head, as the issue of the identity of the shooter had
been established by the prior judgment and the doctrine of
collateral estoppel barred [Gutierrez] from relitigating that
issue. On August 16, 1993, the People filed a written
Motion re Collateral Estoppel, seeking to preclude [Gutier-
rez] from litigating the issues of his identity as the shooter
and his intent to kill. The motion argued that the principle
of collateral estoppel justified the court "in instructing the

6

jury that [Gutierrez] was found guilty in a prior proceeding
of inflicting great bodily harm upon Ms. Zarate as a result
of discharging a firearm into an occupied motor vehicle,
with the intent to kill her, and that said criminal conviction
is an element of the present charge of second degree
murder, which need not be relitigated." [Gutierrez] filed
written opposition to the motion, which was orally argued
on August 20, 1993.

In granting the prosecution’s motion, the court stated
that it read the verdict forms of the prior attempted murder
case, and "I’ve seen the findings that [the jury] made, and
... the jury has decided these issues, that the defendant had
express malice aforethought, that he did the shooting. The
only issue is whether or not what he did caused the death.
That’s the way I see it.... [9%]... I’m ruling that the
defendant is collaterally estopped from relitigating the issue
of whether he caused great bodily harm to Miss Zarate as
a result of discharging a firearm at an occupied motor
vehicle with the intent to kill Miss Zarate.”

App., post, A-4.

B. How the Federal Question was Presented Below and
Resolved by the Court of Appeal

Gutierrez’s written opposition in the trial court had argued in
support of the proposition that "A review of the direction by the
United States Supreme Court leads to the conclusion that . . . the
doctrine [of collateral estoppel] is not available to the prosecution
in that employment by the government would deny the defen-
dant Due Process of Law.” Ret. and Answer, App. D, Notice of
Motion and Motion to Exclude Proffered Evidence Pursuant to
§ 402 of the Evidence Code, 4.

Gutierrez’s petition to the Court of Appeal argued in support
of the proposition that the use of collateral estoppel "would be
in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment

7

and in conflict with United States and California Supreme Court
decisions interpreting the Due Process Clause." Pet. for Writ of
Prohibition and Mem. of Pts. and Authorities, 3. The People’s
return and answer to the alternative writ argued in favor of the
constitutionality of the use of collateral estoppel. Ret. and
Answer, 14-17. In his reply, Gutierrez argued that the use of
collateral estoppel against him would violate "his right to a jury
trial as envisioned by the Sixth Amendment," Reply to Ret., 2,
and also violate "Due Process as envisioned by both the United
States and California Constitutions,” tid.

In its majority opinion, the Court of Appeal said, "The
principles articulated in federal courts concerning the doctrine of
collateral estoppel are equally pertinent to state court matters.”
App., post, A-6. The Court of Appeal quoted portions of the
majority and dissenting opinions in Ashe v. Swenson, 397 U.S.
436, 443, 464-465, 90 S.Ct. 1189, 25 L.Ed.2d 469 (1970); the
lead per curiam opinion in Simpson v. Florida, 403 U.S. 384, 91
S.C. 1801, 29 L.Ed.2d 549 (1971); and the plurality opinion in
United States v. Dixon, 509 U.S. _, 113 S.Ct. 2849, 2863, 125
L.Ed.2d 556, 577, fn. 15 (1993). App., post, A-8 to A-9. The
Court of Appeal commented on the passages it quoted from this
Court, as follows: "Despite this seemingly absolute language
barring the prosecution from asserting the collateral estoppel
doctrine against the defendant on a subsequent prosecution, the
language remains dictum." Id. at A-10.

The majority opinion of the Court of Appeal then reviewed
pertinent case law from the federal courts and from state courts
both in and out of California. Id. at A-10 to A-21. The Court
of Appeal noted that "the federal courts are not unanimous on
the issue." Id. at A-12. The state cases from outside of Califor-
nia the Court of Appeal majority relied most upon were State v.
Ingenito, 87 N.J. 204, 432 A.2d 912 (1981) and State v. Johnson,
134 N.H. 498, 594 A.2d 1288 (1991). In Ingenito, as the
majority opinion below noted, App., post, A-14, the New Jersey
Supreme Court held that the use of collateral estoppel against a
criminal defendant at his trial "impinged upon his constitutional

8

right of trial by jury, U.S. Const., Amend. VI, N.7. Const. (1947),
Art. I, 9." 432 A.2d at 915. (In Johnson, the New Hampshire
Supreme Court held in the case before it "that the justifications
supporting the State’s motion [to apply collateral estoppel against
the defendant at trial] are simply outweighed by the defendant’s
right to require the State to prove, beyond a reasonable doubt,
every element of the charge against him." 594 A.2d at 1293.)

The California Supreme Court in People v. Ford, 65 Cal.2d 41,
50-51, 52 Cal.Rptr. 228, 416 P.2d 132 (1966), had approved
application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel against Ford at
a jury trial in a criminal prosecution. App., post, A-19 to A-20.
The majority opinion of the Court of Appeal in this case distin-
guished the decision in People v. Ford on three grounds. The first
was that "there is no indication in Ford that the jury instruction
prevented defendant from presenting his defense of diminished
capacity or impaired his right to a fair trial on the homicide
charge," App., post, A-20, whereas Gutierrez "here asserted a
mistaken identity defense at his attempted murder trial and
would be precluded from presenting this defense under the
challenged court order. Idd. Second, said the Court of Appeal,
Gutierrez vis-a-vis Ford "is not only asserting the claim that the
court order constitutes instructional error, but that it impairs his
right to jury trial and to the presumption of innocence." - Id.,
A-20 to A-21. The third ground was stated, "It must also be
remembered that Ford was decided before Ashe and Simpson
questioned the ability of the prosecution to invoke collateral es-
toppel against a criminal defendant." App., post, A-21.

After its review of the cases, the Court of Appeal held:

In this case, although the threshold requirements for
application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel were met
[citation], the prosecution failed to establish that its asser-
tion of the doctrine of collateral estoppel is consistent with
principles of due process and sound judicial policy. "Quite
simply, the pursuit of judicial economy and efficiency may
never be used to deny a defendant his right to a fair trial.”

9

[Citation. Fn. omitted.] [1] In this case, the assertion of
collateral estoppel by the prosecution deprives [Gutierrez]
of the right to present his defense to the jury. To the
extent he did not testify at his attempted murder trial and
wishes to do so in the instant trial, the court’s ruling would
also preclude him from presenting evidence and defenses
which, for whatever reason, may not have been. presented
at the prior trial. Thus, the interests of petitioner far out-
weigh any interest in judicial economy.

App., post, A-21 to A-22.
The Court of Appeal majority also said:

We also question whether, as a practical matter, the
murder trial can be limited to the issue of causation and the
jury instructed in the manner requested by the prosecution
without causing prejudice to [Gutierrez] as to the issue
actually to be decided by the jury in such a limited trial.
This is so because a jury so instructed could not help but
infer that the defendant had either admitted the other issues
or another jury had already decided them against him.
Either inference creates "a strong, perhaps irresistible,
gravitational pull towards a guilty verdict, which is utterly
inconsistent with the requirement that a jury remain free
and untrammelled in its deliberations." (State v. Ingenito,
supra, 432 A.2d 912, 918-919.)

(App., post, A-23.)

The dissenting opinion from the Court of Appeal noted that
the question raised by Gutierrez’s petition "has divided both
federal courts [citations] and state courts [citations],” Jd. at A-24,
and went on to discuss the California cases. The dissent said, "A
criminal defendant may be estopped from presenting a defense."
Id. at A-26.

10
REASONS FOR ALLOWANCE OF THE WRIT

This petition focuses on the use of collateral estoppel to
prevent a criminal defendant at trial from relitigating issues
already resolved against the defendant in a previous prosecution;
state and federal courts have endorsed its actual use. But
language in opinions of this Court, where the issue was not even
before the Court, have cast doubt on the endorsements given by
these other courts and have led some courts to entirely invalidate
this use of collateral estoppel. Given the number of recent
opinions dealing with the issue which are at odds with the ma-
jority of federal court and earlier state court decisions that allow
its use, this case presents the Court with a timely opportunity to
explain whether, and, if so, why, the federal Constitution con-
strains the use c* ol ateral estoppel in criminal trials. Review of
the issue will sho .hat the Court’s dicta on this issue, and the
opinion below, misjudge the extent of constitutional constraint
and that collateral estoppel can be used in this case, as requested
by the prosecution, consistent with the defendant's jury trial and
due process rights.

I. It is Appropriate to Allow the Writ Before Trial

The circumstances here demonstrate the need in this case for
review before trial. The decision below of the Court of Appeal
is final, Cal. Rules of Court, Rule 24(a), and constitutes the law
of the case, see Kowis v. Howard, 3 Cal.4th 888, 894, 12
Cal.Rptr.2d 728, 383 P.2d 250 (1992), on the federal issue.
However, though Gutierrez awaits his trial for murder, once the
trial commences, the federal issue "will not survive for this Court
to review, regardless of the outcome of the proceedings on
remand.” Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 48, 94 L.Ed.2d
40, 107 S.Ct. 989 (1987). If the Court denies review at this
point and the prosecution then secures Gutierrez’s conviction, the
People "will have prevailed and will have no basis to seek review."
480 U.S. at 48. If, on the other hand, Gutierrez wins an

1]

acquittal, the People "will be barred from seeking review by the
Double Jeopardy Clause. [Citations.] Therefore, if this Court
does not consider the constitutional claims now, there may well
be no opportunity to do so in the future." Idd. Nor can the
People in anyway resist the order of the Court of Appeal to pre-
serve the issue on the hearing of a contempt citation for its
prosecutor. 480 U.S. at 50, fn. 8. The Court of Appeal directed
its order to the trial court, not the prosecution. App., post, A-24.

II. The Decision Below Underscores the Growing Split
in both Federal and State Courts Inspired by Dicta
in Opinions from this Court

Federal appellate courts have split regarding the use of
collateral estoppel by the prosecution in criminal cases. Foremost
among the decisions of federal courts encouraging the prosecu-
tion’s use of collateral estoppel is that of the Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit in United States v. Colacurcio, 514 F.2d 1
(CA9 1975). Other federal cases had applied collateral estoppel
in situations where the defendant's status as an illegal alien had
been adjudicated and was relevant to new immigration charges.
Hernandez-Uribe v. United States, 515 F.2d 20 (CA8 1975);
Pena-Cabanillas v. United States, 394 F.2d 785, 786 (CA9
1968); United States v. Rangel-Perez, 179 F.Supp. 619, 623
(S.D.Cal. 1959). Although the court in Colacurcio ruled the trial
court improperly applied collateral estoppel in the peculiar
circumstances of the case, see also United States v. Bejar-Matre-
cios, 618 F.2d 81, 83-84 (CA9 1980), the Court of Appeals dis-
agreed with the defendant’s claim that its use in a criminal trial
"would ignore the defendant’s constitutional right to be confront-
ed with the witnesses against him and his right to have all of the
facts decided by the jury," Colacurcio, 514 F.2d at 6. The Court
of Appeals noted that the defendant had "had the opportunity to
cross-examine all witnesses against him and was accorded his
constitutional right to trial by jury,” shid., and said:

12

While Rangel-Perez and Pena-Cabanillas are limited to the
question of defendant's status, we conclude that the
rationale of those cases is equally applicable to those facts
actually decided which were essential to the judgment in the
prior case.

Ibid. Such 1s the situation in the instant case where the jury
necessarily decided facts essential to Gutierrez’s guilt of the
charges contained in the verdicts against him at his trial for
attempted murder that should not have to be relitigated in his
murder trial.

But recently, in a racketeering case, a federal court flatly
rejected the use of collateral estoppel against the defendant at
trial, and in the process, expressly rejected the rationales upon
which it viewed the above Eighth and Ninth Circuit cases as
having been decided. See United States v. Pelullo, 14 F.3d 881,
891, 892-893 (CA3 1994). To do so, the court considered three
factors. First, the court quoted some language in Chief Justice
Burger’s dissenting opinion in Ashe v. Swenson, supra, 397 U.S.
436, 465. In the quoted language from the dissent in Ashe, the
Chief Justice said, “[If the defendant] had been convicted at the
first trial, presumably no court would then hold that he was
thereby foreclosed from litigating the identification issue at. the
second trial.," Pelullo, 14 F.3d at 891. Second, the Third
Circuit noted its own previous dicta in United States v. De
Angelo, 138 F.2d 466, 468 (CA3 1943), and dicta from other
lower federal courts in United States v. Bruno, 333 F.Supp. 570,
576 (E.D.Pa. 1971), and United States v. Carlisi, 32 F.Supp.
479, 482 (E.D.N.Y. 1940). Finally, the Third Circuit relied
upon state court decisions in State v. Ingenito, supra, 432 A.2d
at 915-919, and People v. Goss, 200 Mich.App. 9, 503 N.W.2d
682, 686-688 (1993), appeal granted, __ Mich. __, 511 N.W.2d
675 (1993). Pelullo, 14 F.3d at 891-892.

In Pelullo, on a retrial, the trial court had precluded the
defendant from contesting his guilt of the predicate act for the
racketeering count based upon the defendant's conviction of the

13

predicate act as a charged crime in the first trial, which conviction
had been affirmed on appeal. 14 F.3d at 887. The Third Circuit
read the Sixth and Seventh Amendments and Article ITI, section
2, of the Constitution, id. at 894-896, as necessitating "that every
jury empaneled for a prosecution considers evidence of guilt
afresh and without the judicial direction attending collateral
estoppel,” 1d. at 896.

However, in attempting to avoid the absurd consequences of
its holding, the Court of Appeals said, as to the conviction for
the predicate act, "On remand the district court should conduct
a balancing analysis, and state its reasons on the record for
admitting or excluding the judgment of conviction," 1d. at 889,
without giving it preclusive effect and as "an ordinary piece of
evidence," id. at 888. But cf. United States v. Pryba, 680 F.Supp.
790, 792 (E.D.Va. 1988),° affirmed, 900 F.2d 748, 758 (CA4
1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 924, 111 S.Ct. 305, 112 L.Ed.2d
258 (1990); Diaz v. United States, supra, 223 U.S. at 450 (dicta
that right to confront witnesses requires defense consent to
admission of record of proceedings in conviction for assault and
battery before justice of the peace in trial for resulting man-
slaughter; no discussion of possible collateral estoppel effect).
Thus, the jury on Pelullo’s federal retrial may learn of his prior
conviction, but will be free to treat it as a nullity.

Although the Court of Appeals in Pelullo discussed Ingenito
and Goss and some older Massachusetts cases, see Commonwealth
v. Feldman, 131 Mass. 588 (1881) (conviction for drunkenness
conclusive on issue against defendant in later trial of assault
charge); Commonwealth v. Evans, 101 Mass. 25 (1869) (convic-
tion for assault with a knife conclusive against defendant in later

5. The District Court's opinion in Pryba discusses the admissibility of a
state court conviction to prove an act of racketeering and states, “While it is
true that both sovereigns may not prosecute the same act or acts, this is no
reason to refrain from giving preclusive effect to a state conviction in the
RICO context. To hold otherwise would ignore settled doctrine giving
preclusive effect 10 convictions, cause a waste of judicial time and resources,
and raise the spectre of inconsistent results.” 680 F.Supp. at 792.

14

trial of manslaughter charge), the Third Circuit’s opinion did not
mention People v. tord, supra, 65 Cal.2d 41. In Ford, the Cali-
fornia Supreme Court held that the defendant’s prior conviction
of robbery sufficed as proof of the robbery in his subsequent
felony-murder trial. See App., post, A-19 to A-20, quoting the
pertinent language from the California Supreme Court in Ford,
65 Cal.2d at 50-51.

As the court below noted, the California Supreme Court
decided Ford before certain dicta from this Court cast doubt on
the viability of using collateral estoppel at trial against a criminal
defendant. App., post, A-21.° To the contrary, Ford cites Sealfon
v. United States, 332 U.S. 575, 578, 68 S.Ct. 237, 92 L.Ed. 180
(1948), where this Court said that the doctrine of res judicata
"applies to criminal as well as civil proceedings [citations] and
operates to conclude those matters in issue which the verdict
determined though the offenses be different."

6. But see Diaz v. United States, supra,223 U.S. at 450. In Diaz, which
the court below did not mention, this Court did not discuss the doctrine of
collateral estoppel, and the prosecution is not reported as having attempted
to use it against the defendant in that case. However, in ruling on the use at
a homicide trial of the record of the proceedings of Diaz's earlier trial before
a justice of the peace for assault and battery, this Court said:

True, the testimony could not have been admitted without the consent
of the accused, first, because it was within the rule against hearsay, and
second, because the accused was entitled to meet the witnesses face to
face. But it was not admitted without his consent, but at his request,
for it was he who offered it in evidence.

Ibid.

15 |

The opinion below attempts to distinguish Ford,” App., post,
A-21, but obviously only makes the attempt because of the
majority’s reliance upon the dicta the majority opinion drew from
the opinions emanating from this Court post-dating Ford, thid.
As the dissenting justice below notes, the majority opinion fails
to rationalize any meaningful basis for differentiating the holding
in Ford from the holding below. Id., at A-29.

III. The Decision Below is Wrong and Involves a Matter
of Public Importance

In Kirby v. United States, 174 U.S. 47, 43 L.Ed. 890 (1899),
this Court held that the convictions of three thieves for stealing
government property could not serve as conclusive evidence of
the stolen nature of that property in a case where the government
had charged Kirby with criminal receipt of the property. In so
saying, however, the Court made a statement that implicitly
recognizes the viability of using the defendant’s own conviction
against him where the facts the conviction establishes are relevant
in a later trial:

Instead of confronting Kirby with witnesses to establish the
vital fact that the property alleged to have been received by
him had been stolen from the United States, he was
confronted only with the record of another criminal
prosecution, with which he had 10 connection and the
evidence in which was not given in his presence. The
record showing the result of the trial of the principal felons

7. California courts are bound by the pronouncements of the California
Supreme Court in earlier cases until overruled by the Supreme Court or
higher authority. Auto Equity Sales,Inc. v. SuperiorCourt, 57 Cal.2d 450, 455,
20 Cal.Rptr. 321, 369 P.2d 937 (1962). In Ford, the California Supreme
Court said, "The doctrine of res judicata applies to criminal as well as civil
proceedings and operates to conclude those matters in issue which the verdict
determined though the offenses be different." Peoplev. Ford,supra,65 Cal.2d
at 50, 52 Cal.Rptr. at 233, 415 P.2d at 137.

16

was undoubtedly evidence, as against them, in respect of
every fact essential to show their guilt.

174 U.S. at 55. In other words, there would have been no
objection to using against Kirby the record of his own criminal
prosecution.

In Ashe v. Swenson, supra, the Court described as "an extremely
important principle in our adversary system of justice" that "when
an issue of ultimate fact has once been determined by a valid and
final judgment, that issue cannot again be litigated between the
same parties in any future lawsuit." 397 U.S. at 443. This is
"collateral estoppel.” Ibid.

In Sealfon v. United States, supra, 332 U.S. 575, 578, this
Court approvingly cited its opinion by Justice Holmes in United
States v. Oppenhewmer, 242 U.S. 85, 37 S.Ct. 68, 61 L.Ed. 161
(1916). The following passage appears in the latter opinion:

We may adopt in its application to this case the state-
ment of a judge of great experience in the criminal law:
"Where a criminal charge has been adjudicated upon by a
court having jurisdiction to hear and determine it, that
adjudication, whether it takes the form of an acquittal or
conviction, is final as to the matter so adjudicated upon,
and may be pleaded in bar to any subsequent prosecution
for the same offence. ... In this respect the criminal law
is in unison with that which prevails in civil proceedings."
Hawkins, J., in The Queen v. Miles, 24 Q. B. D. 423, 431.
The finality of a previous adjudication as to the matters
determined by it, is the ground of decision in Common-
wealth v. Evans, 101 Massachusetts, 25, the criminal and
the civil law agreeing, as Mr. Justice Hawkins says.
Commonwealth v. Ellis, 160 Massachusetts, 165, Brittain
v. Kinnaird, 1 Brod. & B. 432.

242 USS. at 88.

17

In the case last-cited in the above-quotation, an English court
wrote, just 30 years after our own Constitution took effect:

The general principle applicable to cases of this descrip-
tion, is perfectly clear; it is established by all the ancient,
and recognised by all the modern decisions; and the
principle is, that a conviction by a magistrate, who has
jurisdiction of the subject matter, is, if no defects appear on
the face of it, conclusive evidence of the facts stated in it.

Brittain v. Kinnaird, | Brod. & B. 432, 437, 129 Eng. Rep. 789,
791 (1819).

In Commonwealth v. Evans, also obviously approved of in the
foregoing passage, the trial court had instructed the jury in
Evans’s trial for the manslaughter of McKenzie that Evans’s
conviction for assaulting McKenzie with a knife was “conclusive
evidence that the use of the knife upon McKenzie was unjustifi-
able; and that the question whether the knife had been lawfully
used by the defendant in self-defence had been determined by
that judgment, and was not now open to him." Commonwealth
v. Evans, supra, 101 Mass. at 26. The Massachusetts Supreme
Court held:

Upon general principles, the parties being the same, the
former judgment must be held to have established all facts
which were involved in the issue then tried, and essential to
the judgment rendered upon it. The conviction for assault
and battery therefore necessarily excludes all justification
which could have been set up under the general issue of

not guilty.

101 Mass. at 27.

In Commonwealth v. Ellis, 160 Mass. 165, 35 N.E. 773
(1893), also cited approvingly in the foregoing passage from
Opperneimer, the issue was paternity in a child neglect prosecu-
non.

18

[T]he defense was that the child was not the child of the
defendant, but was a bastard child of the defendant's wife.
To meet this defense, the government put in evidence a
record of the second district court of Bristol, showing a
prior conviction and sentence of the defendant, under the
same statute, for unreasonably neglecting to support the
same child. The presiding justice ruled, as matter of law,
that the record of the conviction and sentence was conclu-
sive evidence that the paternity of the child was determined,
and that the defendant was estopped to set up the illegiti-
macy of the child as a defense.

35 N.E. at 773. The Massachusetts Supreme Court analyzed the
issue as follows:

The question of the paternity of the child was necessarily
involved in the prior conviction of the defendant. That fact
having been determined, it cannot again be litigated
between the same parties, unless a different rule applies to
criminal proceedings from that which obtains in civil
proceedings. [Citation.] It is well settled that the rule ts
the same in both classes of cases.

Ibid. The Massachusetts courts opinion continues with a
discussion of its previous opinions in Evans and Commonwealih
v. Feldman, supra, 131 Mass. 588.

"Certainly there is no constitutional right to use the time of
the courts in repetitive litigation of the same issues." Vestal,
Issue Preclusion and Criminal Prosecutions, 65 Iowa Law
Review 281, 321. However, decisions such as Evams and
Feldman possess an underlying justification worthier even than
the "concerns for efficient judicial administration and judicial
perceptions of expeditious public policy," United States v. Pelullo,
supra, 14 F.3d at 891, thought insufficient by the Third Circuit
to justify estopping a criminal defendant from litigating his guilt
of charges of which he has already been duly convicted. The fear

19

of contradictory verdicts and discrediting our system of justice
embodies more than regard for efficiency and expedience.
Collateral estoppel balances the respect given the judgments of
the courts by a society that depends upon them for final resolu-
tion of its disputes, both civil and criminal.

When consistent with the intent with which they were
framed, "All laws should receive a sensible construction." United
States v. Kirby, 7 Wall (74 U.S.) 482, 486, 19 L.Ed. 278 (1868).
The Constitution could not sensibly enforce a rule that a
defendant’s alienage can be determined against the defendant in
an immigration prosecution without binding effect in later cases;
that one can be declared the parent in one criminal proceeding
and not the parent in a later one in the same court; that a
defendant in a racketeering case must be permitted to litigate
"predicate acts" of which he has already been convicted; or that
a person can be convicted of a felonious assault or attempted
murder, only to be acquitted of a homicide charge by contesting
guilt on the same assault. Such a rule should rightly be held up
to ridicule. "The former conviction means nothing if it does not
mean that the requisite facts were established in the prior pro-
ceedings. If the former conviction is to be accepted at all it must
be taken as importing its own verity." People v. Majado, 22
Cal.App.2d 323, 326 (1937).

In Mayado, the California District Court of Appeal approved
application of collateral estoppel against a criminal defendant
where the question presented included the same issue before the
Massachusetts court in Ellis "whether a conviction and judgment
on a charge of failing to provide for an illegitimate child is
conclusive on the issue of parentage and prevents the defendant
from having the same issue retried in a subsequent prosecution
on a similar charge in the same court and between the same
parties,...." 22 Cal.App.2d at 324. The California appellate
court noted that "Eventually, [the defendant] might secure a jury
which would find that he was not the father of the child and,
since that judgment could not be set aside, we would then have
the same fact judicially determined both ways," 1d. at 327, an

20

unsatisfactory situation. State v. Braskett, 10 Ohio Ops. 2d 497,
82 Ohio L.Abs. 161, 162 N.E.2d 922 (Ct. Common Pleas
1959).8

It is a fundamental principle of jurisprudence, arising from
the very nature of courts of justice and the objects for
which they are established, that a question of fact or of law
distinctly put in issue and directly determined by a court of
competent jurisdiction cannot afterwards be disputed
between the same parties. Southern Pacific Raslroad Co. v.
United States, 168 U.S. 1, 48. The principle is as applicable
to the decisions of criminal courts as to those of civil juris-
diction.

Frank v. Mangum, 237 U.S. 309, 333-334, 35 S.Ct. 582,
59 L.Ed. 969 (1915).

This general rule is demanded by the very object for which
civil courts have been established, which is to secure the
peace and repose of society by the settlement of matters
capable of judicial determination. Its enforcement is
essential to the maintenance of social order; for, the aid of
judicial tribunals would not be invoked for the vindication
of rights of person and property, if, as between parties and
their privies, conclusiveness did not attend the judgments
of such tribunals in respect of all matters properly put in
issue and actually determined by them.

Southern Pactfic Railroad Co. v. United States, supra, 168 U.S. at
49, 42 L.Ed. 355, 18 S.Ct. 18 (1897).

The same concerns historically applied to the criminal courts.
"The principle is as applicable to the decisions of criminal courts

8. In precluding acriminal defendant from relitigating paternity, the court
concluded that “ina case such as this it will not do for the paternity of minor
children to be put in issue more than once.” 162 N.E.2d at 924.

21

as to those of civil jurisdiction." Frank v. Mangum, supra, 237
U.S. at 334. The principle applied at both common law and
equity, Hopkins v. Lee, 6 Wheat. (19 U.S.) 109, 113-114,
5 L.Ed. 218, 219-220 (1821), is one of "obvious fitness and
propriety,” 6 Wheat. at 114, and was early said to have "found its
way into every system of jurisprudence,” ibid. It was said to
apply "to sentences of Courts of Admiralty; to ecclesiastical
tribunals; and, in short, to every Court which has proper cogni-
sance of the subject-matter, so far as thev profess to decide the
particular matter in dispute." Ibid.

The view of the Third Circuit in Pelullo, that the Constitution,
by guaranteeing the right to a jury trial, undermines the use of
collateral estoppel or res judicata in criminal trials, lacks basis
either in the words of the Constitution or in any intent manifest
in its enactment. "The Constitution is concerned with practical,
substantial rights, not with those that are unclear and gain hold
by subtle and involved reasoning.” F.H.A. v. The Darlington,
358 U.S. 84, 91, 79 S.Ct. 141, 3 L.Ed.2d 132 (1958).

As authority for its decision, the Third Circuit’s opinion in
Pelullo contains a citation to In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364,
90 S.Ct. 1068, 25 L.Ed.2d 368 (1970). United States v. Pelullo,
supra, 14 F.3d at 896. Winsmp holds that due process requires
a certain burden of proof, proof beyond a reasonable doubt, in
cases with criminal-type penalties. 397 U.S. at 364, 368. To
thus state a more stringent burden of proof in criminal cases than
for civil cases, however, does not establish that the Framers
intended for collateral estoppel to have some lesser effect in
criminal cases than in civil cases. The principle of collateral
estoppel was a part of every established legal system at the time
of the adoption of the Constitution. See Hopkins v. Lee, supra,
6 Wheat. at 113-114 Nothing inherent in the standard of proof
beyond a reasonable doubt establishes that the Framers intended
collateral estoppel to operate only in civil trials.

In cases like Carella v. California, 491 U.S. 263, 109 S.Ct.
2419, 105 L.Ed.2d 218 (1989), applying Winship to the use of
conclusive presumptions in criminal cases, the constitutional

22

problem is that if the presumption is used, then the defendant
will never have had the benefit of a jury’s evaluation of the
evidence against him. In contrast, in Gutierrez’s case:

The defendant has had a day in court on the matter; there
was an incentive to litigate, and the issue was determined
against the defendant. The defendant is not deprived of
anything.

Vestal, op. cit. supra, at 317; see Carmody v. Seventh Judicial
District Court, 81 Nev. 83, 398 P.2d 706 (1965).?

Gutierrez has had a jury fairly evaluate the evidence that he
attempted to murder Sandra Zarate, shooting into her car and
personally and intentionally inflicting great bodily injury upon
her. The jury found this evidence persuasive of his guilt beyond
a reasonable doubt.

For the crime of attempted murder that he defended against
in that first trial, he faced a sentence at least equal to the sentence
he now faces for murder of the second degree.’ In addition,

9. In Carmody, shortly before their victim died, the Carmodys pled guilty
to robbery and received state prison sentences. The Nevada Supreme Court
denied the Carmodys' petition to prohibit a subsequent prosecution for
murder. In ruling, the court said the Carmodys would not suffer any
"fundamental unfairness” in a trial for murder if the robbery convictions
precluded them from contending they did not commit the robbery. 398 P.2d
at 707.

10. Under the charges at Gutierrez's trial, the jury could have convicted
him of attempted premeditated murder. Gutierrez would then have been
liable for a sentence of life in prison. CAL. PENAL CODE, § 664, subd. 1;
App., post,A-40.

However, the jury only convicted Gutierrez of attempted unpremeditated
murder. Jeopardy limits the prosecution in this case to now seeking a
conviction only of unpremeditated murder, because the People have already
once tried and failed to convince a jury that Gutierrez premeditated Zarate's
murder. See United States v. Dixon, supra,509 U.S. at __, 113 S.Ct. at 2861,
125 L.Ed.2d at 574, fn. 10.

(continued...)

23

Sandra Zarate slept in a coma at the time of the trial for
attempted murder. See People v. Gutierrez, supra, 10 Cal.App.4th
at 1733. Obviously, the likelihood that she might die from her
injuries was more than a remote possibility. Because Gutierrez
thus had the incentive to fully litigate the charges against him
and did so, his conviction of attempted murder serves in the
present murder prosecution as proof beyond a reasonable doubt
of that attempt and commands respect alike from court and jury.

10. (...continued)

The California Penal Code makes unpremeditated murder (murder of the
second degree), see CAL. PENAL CODE, § 189; ante, at 2-3, punishable by a
sentence of 15 years to life in prison, CAL. PENAL CODE, § 190, subd. (a);
App., post,A-39. Thus, Gutierrez's potential sentence in his trial for attempted
murder was roughly equivalent to the maximum sentence he can now receive
if a jury convicts him of the murder.

24
CONCLUSION

The state Court of Appeal erred on a matter of federal law
that has divided both federal and state courts. This Court should
grant certiorari to review the important constitutional question
presented in Gutierrez’s case.

Respectfully submitted,

GIL GARCETTI
District Attorney
County of Los Angeles, California

by
GEORGE M. PALMER

Acting Head Deputy
Appellate Division

GEORGE G. SIZE
Deputy District Attorney

BRENT RIGGS (Counsel of Record)
Deputy District Attorney

849 South Broadway, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California 90014-3570
(213) 974-1615

Counsel for Petitioner

APPENDIX

A-1

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE
COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION SEVEN

ABRAHAM GUTIERREZ, ) BO78255
)
Petitioner, ) (Super.Ct.No.
) KA016953)
v. )
) COURT OF APPEAL
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ) -SECOND DIST.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY, ) FILED
) APR 15 1994
Respondent; ) Joseph A. Lane Clerk
)
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE ) Deputy Clerk
OF CALIFORNIA, ) [stamp]
)
Real Party in Interest. )
)

PETITION for writ of prohibition. Alfonso M. Bazan,
Judge. Petition granted.

H. Russell Halpern for Petitioner.
No appearance for Respondent.

Gil Garcetti, District Attorney, Patrick D. Moran and Brent
Riggs, Deputy District Attorneys, for Real Party in Interest.

A-2

[24 Cal.App.4th 155]

Petitioner, defendant in a criminal prosecution for murder
of Sandra Zarate, challenges an order of the trial court barring
him from litigating the issues of identity and intent on the
ground that a prior final judgment of conviction for attempted
murder of Zarate’ collaterally estops him from doing so,
leaving for the jury only the issue of whether petitioner’s
shooting of Zarate caused her death.

[24 Cal.App.4th 156] Petitioner contends that the
prosecution’s assertion of the doctrine of collateral estoppel
denies him his constitutional right to jury trial and to due process
of law as guaranteed by both the federal and state constitutions.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

According to our opinion on petitioner’s prior appeal of his
attempted murder conviction, petitioner was at a friend’s house
drinking beer with 30 to 40 of his acquaintances when Zarate
and three others drove by; petitioner and his friends threw beer
cans and shouted gang slogans as the car passed; petitioner
pursued the car on a motorcycle; while a second person drove
the motorcycle, petitioner sat on the back with a gun and shot
Zarate in the head.

Petitioner’s defense was mistaken identity; two defense
witnesses testified that petitioner was not the shooter. The jury
found petitioner guilty of discharging a gun into an occupied
motor vehicle (count 2) and attempted murder (count 1), but
found the attempt to commit murder was not willful, deliberate,

1/ Zarate was shot in the head in June 1990; at the time of
petitioner’s trial on various counts, including attempted murder,
Zarate was hospitalized in a coma; she died in January 1993.
Petitioner was convicted of attempted murder in January 1991,
which conviction was upheld on appeal in People v. Gutierrez
(1992) 10 Cal.App.4th 1729 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 464].

A-3

and premeditated; the jury also found true the allegations that
petitioner personally used a firearm and intentionally and
personally inflicted great bodily injury on Zarate. Petitioner was
sentenced to state prison for a total term of 18 years and 8
months. The judgment was affirmed on appeal in People v.
Gutierrez, supra, 10 Cal.App.4th 1729.

After Zarate’s death in January 1993, the People filed in
July 1993 an information charging petitioner with murder. At
a pretrial conference on August 4, 1993, the prosecutor informed
the court that the People would be seeking a jury instruction that
the only issue to be decided is whether Zarate’s death was caused
by a gunshot wound to her head, as the issue of the identity of
the shooter had been established by the prior judgment and the
doctrine of collateral estoppel barred petitioner from relitigating
that issue. On August 16, 1993, the People filed a written
Motion re Collateral Estoppel, seeking to preclude petitioner
from litigating the issues of his identity as the shooter and his
intent to kill. The motion argued that the principle of collateral
estoppel justified the court "in instructing the jury that [petition-
er] was found guilty in a prior proceeding of inflicting great
bodily harm upon Ms. Zarate as a result of discharging a firearm
into an occupied motor vehicle, with the intent to kill her, and
that said criminal conviction is an element of the present charge
of second degree murder, which need not be relitigated.”
Petitioner filed written opposition to the motion, which was
orally argued on August 20, 1993.

In granting the prosecution’s motion, the court stated that
it read the verdict forms of the prior attempted murder case, and
"T’ve seen the findings [24 Cal.App.4th 157] that [the jury]
made, and . . . the jury has decided these issues, that the defen-
dant had express malice aforethought, that he did the shooting.
The only issue is whether or not what he did caused the death.
That’s the way I see it.... [9]... I’m ruling that the defen-
dant is collaterally estopped from relitigating the issue of whether
he caused great bodily harm to Miss Zarate as a result of

A-4

discharging a firearm at an occupied motor vehicle with the
intent to kill Miss Zarate."

Petitioner filed timely petition for writ of prohibition
challenging the August 20, 1993 order. After we denied the
petition, petitioner sought review in the Supreme Court, which
granted review and transferred the matter to us with directions
to vacate our order denying prohibition and to issue an alterna-
tive writ. We vacated our prior order and issued alternative writ
of prohibition; real party in interest filed a return and answer;
petitioner filed a reply to return; oral argument has been had
thereon.

|
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF COLLATE ESTOPPEL

"Collateral estoppel precludes relitigation of issues argued
and decided in prior proceedings. [Citation.] Traditionally, we
have applied the doctrine only if several threshold requirements
are fulfilled. First, the issue sought to be precluded from
relitigation must be identical to that decided in a former proceed-
ing. Second, this issue must have been actually litigated in the
former proceeding. Third, it must have been necessarily decided
in the former proceeding. Fourth, the decision in the former
proceeding must be final and on the merits. Finally, the party
against whom preclusion is sought must be the same as, or in
privity with, the party to the former proceeding.” (Lucido v.
Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal.3d 335, 341 [272 Cal.Rptr. 767,
795 P.2d 1223, 2 A.L.R.5th 995]; fn. omitted.)

"Even assuming all the threshold requirements are satisfied,
however, our analysis is not at an end. We have repeatedly
looked to the public policies underlying the doctrine before
concluding that collateral estoppel should be applied in a
particular setting. [Citation.] As the United States Supreme
Court has stated, ’the rule of collateral estoppel in criminal cases

A-5

is not to be applied with the hypertechnical and archaic approach
of a nineteenth century pleading book, but with realism and
rationality.” (Ashe v. Swenson (1970) 397 U.S. 436, 444 [25
L.Ed.2d 469, 475, 90 S.Ct. 1189]... .)” (Lucido v. Superior
Court, supra, 51 Cal.3d at pp. 342-343.) Thus, collateral
estoppel is not an inflexible, universally applicable principle;
policy considerations may limit its use where the limitation on
[24 Cal.App.4th 158} relitigation underpinnings of the doctrine
are outweighed by other factors. (Id. at p. 343.)

"Accordingly, the public policies underlying collateral
estoppel -- preservation of the integrity of the judicial system,
promotion of judicial economy, and protection of litigants from
harassment by vexatious litigation -- strongly influence whether
its application in a particular circumstance would be fair to the
parties and constitutes sound judicial policy." (Lucido v.
Superior Court, supra, 51 Cal.3d at p. 343.)

In deciding whether the doctrine is applicable in a particular
situation a court must balance the need to limit litigation against
the right of a fair adversary proceeding in which a party may
fully present his case. (People v. Taylor (1974) 12 Cal.3d 686,
695 [117 Cal.Rptr. 70, 527 P.2d 622].)

The instant case must be distinguished from those situa-
tions in which a criminal defendant invokes collateral estoppel as
a defense or as a bar to a subsequent prosecution. Rather, the

2/ For example, in Ashe v. Swenson, supra, 397 U.S. 436,
445-446 [25 L.Ed.2d 469, 476-477, 90 S.Ct. 1189], wherein a
defendant was acquitted of robbery of one of several victims and
then charged with robbery of another victim, the Court held that
the doctrine of collateral estoppel "is embodied in the Fifth
Amendment guarantee against double jeopardy” (id. at p. 445
[25 L.Ed.2d at p. 476]), and “the State could not present the
same or different identification evidence in a second prosecution
for the robbery . . . in the hope that a different jury might find
that evidence more convincing. The situation is constitutionally

(continued...)

A-6

instant case involves the assertion of the doctrine by the prosecu-
tion to limit petitioner’s ability to contest at his trial for murder
those issues which were adjudicated against him by the jury on
his prior trial and conviction for attempted murder. Although
the parties do not bring to our attention any California case on
all fours with this one, they discuss cases in our courts and in
other jurisdictions wherein the prosecution sought to invoke the
doctrine of collateral estoppel against a criminal defendant.
Because the United States Supreme Court has adverted to the
mutuality aspect of collateral estoppel in criminal cases, even if
only in dictum, we believe a discussion of this issue is helpful in
developing a conceptual framework to address the issue presented
in this case. "The principles articulated in federal courts concern-
ing the doctrine of collateral estoppel are equally pertinent to
state court matters." (People v. Nunez (1986) 183 Cal.App.3d
214, 224 [228 Cal.Rptr. 64].)

2/ (...continued) ,

no different here, even though the second trial related to another
victim of the same robbery. For the name of the victim, in the
circumstances of this case, had no bearing whatever upon the
issue of whether the petitioner was one of the robbers." (Id. at
p. 446 [25 L.Ed.2d at p. 477].) The Court in Ashe also found
that the jury in the first trial had determined by its verdict that
the defendant was not one of the robbers. (Ibid.)

Petitioner herein does not contend the doctrine of collateral
estoppel or double jeopardy bars his prosecution for murder.
Our decision in People v. Bivens (1991) 231 Cal.App.3d 653
[282 Ca.Rptr. 438], supports the conclusion that his prosecution
for murder is not barred because the victim had not died at the
time of the prosecution for attempted murder.

A-7

[24 Cal.App.4th 159] II

MUTUALITY REQUIREMENT

In United States v. Carlisi (E.D.N.Y.1940) 32 F.Supp.
479, the court quoted at length from a "very interesting, instruc-
tive, and well-considered editorial on the subject, ‘Res Judicata
With Respect to Criminal Judgments” (id. at p. 482), written by
an attorney, Harry G. Anderson, and appearing in the New York
Law Journal in December 1939: "The courts have frequently
referred to the principle of res judicata in criminal cases. In
transplanting the doctrine, however, to criminal law the require-
ment of mutuality had to be abandoned. A prior adjudication
with respect to an element of a subsequently tried offense is not
binding upon the accused. This is so because the defendant,
charged with crime, always has the right to have the jury or the
triers of the facts determine anew every element of guilt. People
v. Kief, 126 N.Y. 661, 663, [27 N.E. 556]; People v. Walker,
198 N.Y. 329, 334, [91 N.E. 806]. For this reason doubt has
been expressed as to whether the doctrine known to the civil law
as res judicata is applicable to criminal cases. [Citation.] [1] In
a more precise sense the rule of res judicata as applied in civil law
cannot be said to have an exact counterpart in criminal law.
There is, however, a rule of estoppel in criminal law akin to res
judicata. As thus used it is a “rule of evidence" which accords to
the accused the right to claim finality with respect to a fact or
group of facts previously determined in his favor upon a previous
trial.” (32 F.Supp. 479, 482.)

Citing Carlisi, the court in United States v. De Angelo (3rd

Cir. 1943) 138 F.2d 466, concluded that although a prior
judgment of acquittal on related matters can be asserted by the
defendant in a subsequent prosecution, there was no "require-
ment of mutuality with respect to a criminal judgment’s conclu-
siveness. An accused is constitutionally entitled to a trial de novo
of the facts alleged and offered in support of each offense

A-8

charged against him and to a jury’s independent finding with
respect thereto.” (Id. at p. 468.)

The foregoing language was cited with approval by the
court in People v. Beltran (1949) 94 Cal.App.2d 197, 205 [210
P.2d 238]. In Beltran, the defendant unsuccessfully argued on
appeal that his prior acquittal on a charge of kidnapping for
purpose of robbery was res judicata on a second trial for robbery;
the court concluded that there was "nothing in the record from
which it can be said that by the verdict of acquittal of the
kidnaping charge the jury found that [the defendant] had no
knowledge of the plan to commit robbery.” (Id. at p. 207.)

Although the lead opinion in Ashe v. Swenson, supra, 397
U.S. 436 [25 L.Ed.2d 469, 90 S.Ct. 1189] (see fn. 2, ante ),
alluded in passing to the "lack [24 Cal.App.4th 160] of
‘mutuality” in the application of the collateral estoppel doctrine
in criminal cases (id., at p. 443 [25 L.Ed.2d at p. 475]), the issue
was discussed in the dissenting opinion by Chief Justice Burger:
"Very properly, in criminal cases, finality and conservation of
private, public, and judicial resources are lesser values than in civil
litigation. Also, courts that have applied the collateral-estoppel
concept to criminal actions would certainly not apply [it to] both
parties, as is true in civil cases, i.e., here, if Ashe had been
convicted at the first trial, presumably no court would then hold
that he was thereby foreclosed from litigating the identification
issue at the second trial.” (Id. at pp. 464-465 [25 L.Ed.2d at p.
487]; dis. opn. of Burger, C.J.)

A year after Ashe, a similar factual situation was before the
Court in Simpson v. Florida (1971) 403 U.S. 384 [29 L.Ed.2d
549, 91 S.Ct. 1801]. In Simpson, the defendant was convicted
of armed robbery of a store manager; after that conviction was
reversed on appeal for instructional error, the defendant was
retried and acquitted; the defendant was then charged with
robbing the store’s customer; defendant’s motion to quash the
information on double jeopardy grounds was overruled and he
was convicted by jury of armed robbery. The Supreme Court of

A-9

Florida declined review, allowing to stand an appellate court
decision that “appellant is estopped from contending without
further proof that the State failed to prove the issue of his
identity as one of the robbers on . . . the second trial inasmuch
as on the first trial a jury had found above and beyond a
reasonable doubt that appellant was a participant in the robbery.”
(Id. at p. 386 [29 L.Ed.2d at p. 552].) The court’s lead per
curiam opinion characterized the Florida appellate court’s
resolution of the issue as "plainly not tenable," and continued to
explain that "Indeed, in Ashe itself, we specifically noted that
*mutuality’ was not an ingredient of the collateral estoppel rule
imposed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments upon the
states. [Citation.] It is clear that Florida could not have retried
petitioner a third time on the charge of robbing the store
manager because it had previously secured a jury verdict of guilty
as well as one of acquittal. And, had the second trial never
occurred, the prosecutor could not, while trying the case under
review, have laid the first jury verdict before the trial judge and
demanded an instruction to the jury that, as a matter of law,
petitioner was one of the armed robbers in the store that night."
(Ibid. )*

3/ More recently, in United States v. Dixon (1993) __ U.S. _
[125 L.Ed.2d 556, 113 S.Ct. 2849], the court addressed the
issue of whether the double jeopardy clause bars prosecution on
a substantive criminal charge based on the same conduct for
which the defendant had been held in criminal contempt of
court. Although the collateral estoppel issue was not raised
therein, (125 L.Ed.2d at p. 573), a footnote in the plurality
opinion (by Justice Scalia, joined by three other Justices) stated:
"Under Ashe v. Swenson .. . , an acquittal in the first prosecu-
tion might well bar litigation of certain facts essential to the
second one -- though a conviction in the first prosecution would
not excuse the Government from proving the same facts the
second time.” (125 L.Ed.2d at p. 577, fn. 15.)

A-10

[24 Cal.App.4th 161] Despite this seemingly absolute
language barring the prosecution from asserting the collateral
estoppel doctrine against the defendant on a subsequent prosecu-
tion, the language remains dictum. Apparently, the United
States Supreme Court has not yet squarely addressed the issue or
offered any theoretical underpinning for such a rule. In the
absence of a definitive resolution of the issue of mutuality by the
United States Supreme Court, some lower courts have developed
justifications for the prosecution’s assertion of the doctrine
against the defendant in cases involving issues of paternity and
citizenship status. Upon a more detailed discussion of these
cases, it will become clear why we find these cases distinguishable
from the instant case.

[IIT]

COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL ASSERTED BY
PROSECUTION, GRANTED

In a case decided well before Ashe v. Swenson, the court in
People v. Majado (1937) 22 Cal.App.2d 323 [70 P.2d 1015],
held that "a conviction and judgment on a charge of failing to
provide for an illegitimate child is conclusive on the issue of
parentage and prevents the defendant from having the same issue
retried in a subsequent prosecution on a similar charge in the
same court and between the same parties, when the information
in the first action has been dismissed after satisfactory completion
of probation.” (Id. at p. 324.) The court explained: "The crime
here is a continuing one, if the appellant continues to fail to care
for the child. If the purpose of probation fails and he continues
to repeat the offense his very failure to take advantage of the
opportunity for reformation offered him by probation would,
under his theory, place him in a much better position than if
probation was never granted. If it had not been granted in the
first place the fact of parentage would have been established for

A-11

future cases. But under his view of the statute [Penal Code
section 1203.4] this result is defeated by his failure to keep his
implied promise to reform and he can, if probation is granted in
successive cases, put the People to the expense of many trials
before this two-year-old child reaches its majority, in each of
which the fact of parentage must again be established. Eventual-
ly, he might secure a jury which would find that he was not the
father of the child and, since that judgment could not be set
aside, we would then have the same fact judicially determined
both ways." (Id. at pp. 326-327.)

In United States v. Rangel-Perez (S.D.Cal. 1959) 179
F.Supp. 619, the defendant was convicted after trial in 1943 of
illegal entry into the United [24 Cal.App.4th 162] States and
deported to Mexico; in 1957, defendant was found in California
and again charged with illegal entry; the prosecution invoked the
doctrine of collateral estoppel to obviate another trial of the
nationality-status issue, whereas the defendant moved to strike all
evidence of the 1943 adjudication of his alienage and asserted he
was entitled to a trial de novo as to each element of the charged
offense. The court acknowledged that a "brief review of the
reported cases which have come to my attention points up not
only the fact that the decisions are in conflict, but also the fact
that the majority lean toward acceptance of the view that the
doctrine of collateral estoppel, while available to the accused as
against the Government, is not available to the prosecutor in
Federal criminal cases." (179 F.Supp. at p. 625.) However, the
court, citing Majado, found the doctrine available to the govern-
ment, permitting it to assert that the 1943 proceeding conclusive-
ly established that the defendant was an alien as of the date of
that prior adjudication. The court noted that "Issues as to status,
for example, would seem most appropriate for application of the
doctrine -- especially so as to such an unchanging and indeed un-
changeable, status as that of natural parent and child, which was
involved in People v. Majado, supra, 22 Cal.App.2d 323... ."
(179 F.Supp. at p. 625.) Although the court noted that

he

A-12

nationality status can be and frequently is changed from that of
alien to that of American citizen through the naturalization pro-
cess, the defendant in the instant case advanced no such evidence;
rather, in his prior trial and in the case at bar defendant advanced
the claim that he was a born American citizen, a claim which he
had already fully and fairly litigated in 1943. “In this situation
it is proper to apply collateral estoppel in favor of the Govern-
ment." (179 F.Supp. at p. 626.)

The court in Rangel-Perez supported its conclusion on the
ground, similar to that advanced in Majado, that defendants
should not be provided an incentive for repeat violations of the
law. "If the issue of alienage were to be tried each time a
defendant makes an entry into the United States, after once
having been found by judicial determination to be an alien, there
would be less to deter future entries than at the present. ... [A]
defendant would have an added incentive to enter again and
again, knowing that a trial de novo on the issue of alienage
would be forthcoming and that such trial might, on one occa-
sion, result in a favorable verdict. The Government would be
estopped by any unfavorable verdict, and accomplishment of the
objectives of the immigration laws to discourage and effectively
control the already difficult problem of illegal entries into this
country would thus be weakened.” (179 F.Supp. at p. 626.)

The instant case does not implicate any public policy
involving deterrence of repeated violations of the law by peti-
tioner. Accordingly, we do not find [24 Cal.App.4th 163] the
Majado or Rangel-Perez line of cases dispositive. Moreover, the
federal circuits are not unanimous on the issue. "Because of its
potential implication for a defendant’s rights to confrontation and
jury trial, other courts have been reluctant to decide whether the
doctrine of collateral estoppel is appropriate in successive criminal
proceedings. See United States v. Day, 591 F.2d 861, 892 n. 23
(D.C.Cir. 1979) (Robinson, J., dissenting in part); United States
v. Cheung Kin Ping, 555 F.2d 1069, 1076 (2d Cir.1977).”

A-13

(United States v. Bejar-Matrecios (9th Cir. 1980) 618 F.2d 81,
83, fn. 2.)

We now turn to an examination of the cases, brought to
our attention by the parties herein, in which the courts have held,
on various theories, that the prosecution cannot invoke the
doctrine of collateral estoppel against a defendant in a criminal
case.

[IV}

COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL ASSERTED
BY PROSECUTION, DENIED

In State v. Stiefel (Fla.App. 1972) 256 So.2d 581, the state
appealed from an order dismissing an information charging
defendant with manslaughter resulting from operation of a motor
vehicle while intoxicated and with culpable negligence on double
jeopardy grounds, as the defendant had suffered a prior convic-
tion of drunk driving. The court held that the prior conviction
was not a bar to the manslaughter charge on double jeopardy
grounds, and the doctrine of collateral estoppel was simply
inapplicable: "The doctrine cannot apply, however, when as here
the issue has been resolved against the accused. This is so
because if it were to be given any effect at all in such case the
trial court in the subsequent prosecution could charge the jury,
or consider as a matter of law, that such issue had been resolved
as a true fact to the detriment of the accused. This would be
impermissible of course, under due process considerations which
assure an accused a jury trial on all issues relating to each element
of a given criminal charge." (256 So.2d at p. 585, emphasis in
original.) It is unclear whether the court in Stiefel was applying
state or federal principles of due process or relying upon the
right to jury trial.

The court clearly grounded its decision in State v. Ingenito
(N.J. 1981) [87 N.J. 204] 432 A.2d 912, on the state and

A-14

federal right to jury trial. Defendant was charged with several
weapons offenses; the charge of possession of a weapon by a
convicted felon was severed from a count charging unlicensed
transfer of a weapon. After trial of the latter charge, defendant
was found guilty and a week later another jury tried defendant on
the charge of possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. As
to the element of being a [24 Cal.App.4th 164] convicted
felon, defendant stipulated that he had been convicted in 1961
for breaking and entering and larceny; to prove possession, the
prosecution was permitted, over defense objection, to admit
evidence of defendant's conviction for unlicensed transfer of the
weapons. On appeal, defendant asserted that the prior conviction
had been used as a collateral estoppel against him and that a
criminal trial use of that doctrine against him was unconstitution-
al. The Supreme Court of New Jersey agreed with the defen-
dant, holding that "the use of defendant’s prior conviction in the
trial of this case constituted collateral estoppel against the
defendant and impinged upon his constitutional right of trial by
jury, U.S. Const., Amend. VI, N.J. Const. (1947), Art. I, 1 9."
(432 A.2d at p. 915.)

The court in Ingenito began its analysis by noting that the
affirmative use of collateral estoppel against a defendant in a
criminal prosecution is not predicated upon any constitutional
mandate, while the right to jury trial is one of the most cherished
rights of Anglo-American jurisprudence, and is a constitutional
guarantee to be scrupulously protected from encroachment or
impairment with respect to a criminal defendant. (432 A.2d at
p- 915.) It then concluded that the application of collateral
estoppel against a criminal defendant impairs the right to jury
trial in several respects: (1) it invades the factfinding and
ultimate decisional functions of the jury ("If an essential element
of a case is presented as concluded or settled, effectively with-
holding from the jury crucial underlying facts, the jury’s capacity
to discharge fully its paramount deliberative and decisional
responsibilities is irretrievably compromised" (id. at p. 916)), and

ee . .

A-15

(2) it conflicts with the presumption of innocence as to every ele-
ment of a crime and impermissibly shifts the burden of proof to
the defendant, in that it "constitutes a strong, perhaps irresistible,
gravitational pull towards a guilty verdict, which is utterly
inconsistent with the requirement that a jury remain free and
untrammeled in its deliberations." (Id. at pp. 918-919.)

In a footnote, the court in Ingenito cited People v. Majado,
supra, 22 Cal.App.2d 323, and United States v. Rangel-Perez,
and acknowledged that "several recent cases have permitted the
use of collateral estoppel, the jury right notwithstanding.” (432
A.2d at p. 919, fn. 7.) "Most of these cases are limited to
instances where the issue foreclosed involved status or did not go
to the core of the crime charged or where the proceeding in
which estoppel was invoked did not involve a jury trial... . To
the extent that the analyses or holdings of any of these cases are
particularly relevant to the factual posture of this case, we do not
believe they adequately or correctly treat the issue of collateral
estoppel as violative of the jury right and find them to be
unpersuasive authority.” (Ibid.)

The Supreme Court of New Hampshire reached a similar
conclusion in State v. Johnson (1991) [134 N.H. 498] 594 A.2d
1288, but instead of setting [24 Cal.App.4th 165] out a
constitutional rule of law applicable to all cases, the court in
Johnson adopted a balancing test analysis. Moreover, the New
Hampshire court did not go so far as to conclude that the
alienage or child support cases such as People v. Majado were
wrongly decided; rather the court distinguished those cases as
involving the weighing of different policies. "The underlying
rationale justifying the application of collateral estoppel in all of
these [alienage and child support] cases appears to be the need
to preserve judicial resources when an unchanging issue has been
- determined by a prior conviction.... As we have noted on
prior occasions, the question of whether collateral estoppel
applies in criminal cases is determined by weighing competing
policy considerations.” (594 A.2d 1288, 1291-1292.) "Where

A-16

a prior conviction involves a factual issue that is necessarily
determinative of a subsequent prosecution, and the policy consid-
erations justifying the application of collateral estoppel are slight,
the State must marshal its evidence and prove its case as com-
pletely as it did in the original prosecution." (Id. at p. 1293.)

In Johnson, the defendant was convicted of driving a motor
vehicle with a revoked license, the central issue in the case being
whether the defendant drove a car on the day of the offense; in
defense, defendant testified that he was not driving the car on the
day in question. In a subsequent trial for perjury, the State filed
a formal motion "requesting the invocation of collateral estoppel
to prevent the relitigation of the findings of fact made in the
operating-after-revocation proceedings.” (594 A.2d at p. 1290.)
Applying a balancing test, the court, citing Ingenito, acknow-
ledged the danger that the use of collateral estoppel may impair
the defendant's right to a fair trial. The court concluded that
"The interests that would best be served by the application of
collateral estoppel in this case--deterrence of defendants from
giving false testimony, and economy in the use of judicial
resources -- are simply outweighed by those considerations which
favor the defendant. “The public interest in the accuracy and
justice of criminal results is greater than the concern for judicial
economy.” (Id. 594 A.2d at p. 1292.)

More recently, the Court of Appeals of Michigan, in People
v. Goss (Mich.App. 1993) [200 Mich.App. 9] 503 N.W.2d 682,
after reviewing the case law of other jurisdictions, decided that "a
defendant’s constitutional right to a trial by jury precludes the
application of collateral estoppel to establish facts relating to an
essential element in a subsequent criminal prosecution. [{] In
so holding, we adopt the reasoning set forth by the Supreme
Court of New Jersey in Ingenito,” (503 N.W.2d at p. 686), and
"explicitly reject the use of a balancing test under the rubric of
due process in making this determination. [Citations.] It is
inappropriate to determine the applicability of collateral estoppel
case by case in terms of a balancing test weighing competing [24

A-17

Cal.App.4th 166] policy considerations because more is at stake
than just a defendant’s right to due process requiring the state to
prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, every element of the charge
against him. Accordingly, in the clash between the principle of
collateral estoppel and the constitutional right to trial by jury,
collateral estoppel must give way to permit a defendant’s
unfettered exercise of the constitutional right to trial by jury.”
(Id. at p. 687.)

The procedural posture of the Goss case is similar to the
posture of the instant case in that the collateral estoppel issue
came to the appellate court prior to the trial in which it was
sought to be invoked by the prosecution. In Goss, the defendant
was convicted of first degree murder, two counts of assault with
intent to commit murder, two counts of criminal sexual conduct,
kidnapping, and armed robbery. All counts, except the murder
count, were affirmed on appeal; on remand for retrial on the
charge of felony murder, the prosecution moved that the jury be
instructed that the element of armed robbery necessary to
establish felony murder had been proven and was not an issue for
the jury to decide. The trial court denied the prosecution’s
motion, and the prosecution appealed. Accordingly, in both the
instant case and Goss, the appellate courts are addressing the
issue of collateral estoppel before the trial at which the prosecu-
tion seeks to assert it. Thus, the case at bar and Goss are distin-
guishable from People v. Ford (1966) 65 Cal.2d 41 [52
Cal.Rptr. 228, 416 P.2d 132] a case relied upon by real party.

The dissenting opinion in Goss relied heavily on Ford to

support the view that the prosecution should be able to assert the
doctrine of collateral estoppel against the defendant. In the case
at bar, the prosecution’s motion in the trial court relied heavily
on Ford, and the trial court at oral argument also expressly cited
Ford before making its ruling. Accordingly, Ford merits our
detailed analysis.

A-18

[V]

RELIANCE ON PEOPLE v. FORD

In People v. Ford, supra, 65 Cal.2d 41, the defendant burglar-
ized the home of John Roope on June 2; on June 9, defendant
entered Roope’s home, robbed Roope at gunpoint, and forced
Roope to drive him to another town, where defendant kidnapped
his (defendant’s) wife, and assaulted a man with whom his wife
was living. Defendant then forced Roope to accompany him, his
wife and children, while he drove Roope’s car aimlessly about the
countryside where, several hours later, he shot and killed a
deputy sheriff. In the first trial, a jury found defendant guilty on
seven counts, including robbery, kidnapping, and murder. On
appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the [24 Cal.App.4th 167]
judgment on the murder count because of errors in the instruc-
tions, affirmed the judgments on the non-homicide counts, and
modified the judgment on the burglary count. Although
defendant testified on his own behalf at the first trial, he did not
do so on retrial; moreover, we infer from the summary of the
psychiatric evidence on the first trial (People v. Ford (1964) 60
Cal.2d 772, 787 [36 Cal.Rptr. 620, 388 P.2d 892]) and the
summary of such evidence on retrial (People v. Ford, supra, 65
Cal.2d at p. 55), that the evidence presented to the second jury
on the element of defendant's intent was different than that at
the first trial. At the second trial, defendant offered extensive
testimony of three psychiatrists to establish that at the time of
the homicide, he did not possess the mental ability to commit
first degree murder, due to emotional disturbance, intoxication
and malnourishment. (65 Cal.2d at pp. 51-52.) The jury was
instructed on both felony murder and on premeditated murder,
although the basis of the jury’s finding of first degree murder
could not be ascertained. On appeal, the Court found that
because the prosecution "presented no psychiatric testimony to
rebut the evidence introduced by the defense" (65 Cal.2d at p.

vs .
,

A-19

55), the evidence was insufficient to support the premeditation
requisite to a conviction of willful, deliberate and premeditated
murder. (Ibid.) The Court also held that the first degree
murder conviction could not be upheld on the basis of the felony
murder rule because as a matter of law the robbery had terminat-
ed prior to the homicide. (Id. at p. 56.) The Court then
concluded that because the kidnapping and the weapon offense
were continuing crimes "still in the process of being committed
by defendant when the killing occurred” (id. at p. 57), the
evidence establisned "the homicide as murder of the second
degree due to the operation of the felony-second-degree murder
rule.” (Ibid.) The judgment was thus modified by reducing the
degree of the crime to murder of the second degree.

One of Ford’s appellate contentions with respect to the
murder conviction was that "since he was not arraigned on a
theory of felony-murder it was error to submit instructions on
that issue to the jury. He further claims that the instructions
were improper because they told the jury that he had been
convicted of robbery, kidnaping and possession of a concealable
weapon by an ex-felon, and reserved for the jury only the
questions whether the homicide was perpetrated during the
commission of any or all of these felonies, and whether he
possessed the intent requisite to the various felonies at the time
of the commission of the homicide.” (65 Cal.2d at p. 50.)

In finding no error occurred in instructing the jury, the
Court stated: "It is obvious that the felony convictions obtained
at the first trial substantially affected the prosecution and defense
upon retrial of the murder charge. The burden upon the
prosecution was lessened to the extent that it was permitted the
benefit of the felony-murder rule without the necessity of having
to [24 Cal.App.4th 168] prove the elements of the respective
felonies. Nor was the defense permitted to dispute the fact that
the necessary elements of the felonies had been conclusively
found. These facts do not, however, compel the conclusion
urged upon us by defendant. [1] The doctrine of res judicata

A-20

applies to criminal as well as civil proceedings and operates to
conclude those matters in issue which the verdict determined
though the offenses be different. (Sealfon v. United States, 332
U.S. 575, 578 [68 S.Ct. 237, 92 L.Ed. 180]; see Teitelbaum
Furs, Inc. v. Dominion Ins. Co., Ltd., 58 Cal.2d 601, 606 [25
Cal.Rptr. 559, 375 P.2d 439].) Thus where a defendant is tried
on multiple counts of a single information, each count being
considered as a separate and distinct offense, the doctrine of res
judicata operates to preclude the relitigation of issues finally
determined upon retrial of only one count. (See People v.
Beltran, 94 Cal.App.2d 197, 205 ....) It follows that the
doctrine of res judicata justifies instructions, where relevant, that
a defendant has been found guilty of crimes finally adjudicated
which are charged as elements in another charge or charges then
in the process of being retried. Accordingly, it was not error for
the trial court to give appropriate instructions that defendant had
been convicted of the various felonies, and that if they found that
defendant’s commission of such felonies was conjoined with his
commission of the homicide, they might predicate their verdict
on the felony-murder rule articulated in Penal Code section 189."
(65 Cal.2d at pp. 50-51.)

The case at bar is distinguishable from Ford factually and
procedurally. In Ford it is also significant that the defendant was
permitted to, and did, litigate on retrial the issue of whether he
had the intent requisite to the various felonies at the time of the
commission of the homicide. In fact, there is no indication in
Ford that the jury instruction prevented defendant from present-
ing his defense of diminished capacity or impaired his right to a
fair trial on the homicide charge. Thus, Ford is distinguishable
from the instant case because petitioner here asserted a mistaken
identity defense at his attempted murder trial and would be
precluded from presenting this defense under the challenged
court order. Moreover, petitioner is not only asserting the claim
that the court order constitutes instructional error, but that it
impairs his right to jury trial and to the presumption of inno-

. :

RENO READE eI PBS Me MY ERE ERG AP ONLINE SS A LIN,

;
4
.

A-21

cence. These are issues not considered in Ford. A decision is
not authority for issues not considered therein. (People v.
Lonergan (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 82, 93 [267 Cal.Rptr. 887].)
It must also be remembered that Ford was decided before Ashe
and Simpson questioned the ability of the prosecution to invoke
collateral estoppel against a criminal defendant.

For all of the foregoing reasons, Ford is not controlling
authority for this case. We proceed to resolve this case on the
principles of collateral estoppel set out in Lucido v. Superior
Court, supra, 51 Cal.3d 335.

[24 Cal.App.4th 169] [VI]

PROSECUTION CANNOT ASSERT COLLATERAL
ESTOPPEL AGAINST PETITIONER

In this case, although the threshold requirements for
application of the doctrine of collateral estoppel were met
(Lucido v. Superior Court, supra, 51 Cal.3d 335, 339), the
prosecution failed to establish that its assertion of the doctrine of
collateral estoppel is consistent with principles of due process and
sound judicial policy. "Quite simply, the pursuit of judicial
economy and efficiency may never be used to deny a defendant
his right to a fair trial.” (People v. Hogue (1991) 228
Cal.App.3d 1500, 1506 [279 Cal.Rptr. 647].)¥

4/ Petitioner relies heavily on Hogue. Although we believe it
was correctly decided, the case is distinguishable from the one at
bar and not dispositive herein. In Hogue, the defendant was
charged and convicted of multiple sex acts on a single victim; on
appeal, the court affirmed his convictions of kidnapping for
purpose of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child under
14, lewd and lascivious conduct by force or violence, and oral
copulation with a child under 14; a count of penetration with a
foreign object on a child under 14 and by a person more than 10

(continued...)

A-22

In this case, the assertion of collateral estoppel by the
prosecution deprives petitioner of the right to present his defense
to the jury. To the extent that he did not testify at his attempted
murder trial and wishes to do so in the instant trial, the court’s
ruling would also preclude him from presenting evidence and
defenses which, for whatever reason, may not have been present-
ed at the prior trial. Thus, the interests of petitioner far out-
weigh any interest in judicial economy.

Moreover, the assertion of the doctrine by the prosecution
cannot be said to promote the public policy of protecting
litigants from harassment. To the extent that permitting
petitioner a full trial on all issues risks a verdict that may be
inconsistent with the prior verdict, we note that "Consistency,
however, is not the sole measure of the integrity of judicial
decisions. We must also consider whether eliminating potential
inconsistency (by displacing full determination of factual issues
in criminal trials) would undermine public confidence in the judi-
cial system. As has the majority of courts in [24 Cal.App.4th
170] other jurisdictions, we conclude it would." (Lucido v.
Superior Court, supra, 51 Cal.3d at p. 347.) Accordingly,

4/ (...continued)
years older was reversed because of error in instructions. On
retrial of the latter count, the court granted the prosecution
motion to preclude the defendant from litigating the issues of
identity and alibi as those issues were adjudicated by the jury in
the first trial. In holding the trial court’s ruling was error, the
appellate court stated that the issue of the identity of the defen-
dant as the person who violated Penal Code section 289,
subdivision (j) was not finally decided and affirmed on the
merits; that conviction was reversed. (228 Cal.App.3d 1500.)
Thus, Hogue is a case in which the threshold requirements for
application of collateral estoppel were not met.

There is no contention in the instant case that the issues
decided by the prior judgment for attempted murder are not
identical to the ones sought to be relitigated.

A-23

petitioner’s interest in a trial de novo is consistent with maintain-
ing integrity and public confidence in the judicial system, while
the application of collateral estoppel threatens those policies.
Thus, the policies underlying collateral estoppel are far out-
weighed by other policies which are vindicated by affording
petitioner a trial de novo.

We also question whether, as a practical matter, the murder
trial can be limited to the issue of causation and the jury
instructed in the manner requested by the prosecution without
causing prejudice to petitioner as to the issue actually to be
decided by the jury in such a limited trial. This is so because a
jury so instructed could not help but infer that the defendant had
either admitted the other issues or another jury had already
decided them against him. Either inference creates "a strong,
perhaps irresistible, gravitational pull towards a guilty verdict,
which is utterly inconsistent with the requirement that a jury
remain free and untrammeled in its deliberations." (State v.
Ingenito, supra, 432 A.2d 912, 918-919.)

We note that the decisions of sister states are persuasive
only in the absence of controlling California authority. (Bell-
flower Education Assn. v. Bellflower Unified School Dist. (1991)
228 Cal.App.3d 805, 811, fn. 2 [279 Cal.Rptr. 179].) In this
case, however, it is unnecessary for us to choose between the
approach of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire in State v.
Johnson, supra, 594 A.2d 1288, which adopted a balancing test
analysis, and the approach of the Supreme Court of New Jersey
in State v. Ingenito, supra, 432 A.2d 912, which adopted a broad
rule barring the assertion of collateral estoppel by the govern-
ment to establish facts relating to an essential element in a
subsequent criminal prosecution. Under both of the foregoing
approaches, as well as under the principles of collateral estoppel
set out in Lucido, we reach the same result: The trial court’s
order must be vacated.

DISPOSITION

A-24

Let a peremptory writ of prohibition issue directing
respondent court to vacate its August 20, 1993, order and to
enter a new and different order denying the prosecution’s Motion
re Collateral Estoppel.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

LILLIE, P.J.
I concur:
JOHNSON, J.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION.

WOODS (Fred), J., Dissenting:

May a criminal defendant be collaterally estopped from
presenting all or part of his defense?

This question, raised by the instant petition, has divided
both federal courts (compare, e.g., United States v. Rangel-Perez
(Cent. Dist. Cal. 1959) 179 [24 Cal.App.4th 171] F.Supp.
619; Pena-Cabanillas v. United States (9th Cir. 1968) 394 F.2d
785; United States v. Colacurcio (9th Cir. 1975) 514 F.2d 1
[allowing preclusion against a criminal defendant] with United
States v. DeAngelo (3d Cir. 1943) 138 F.2d 466) and state
courts (Compare, e.g., Commonwealth v. Evans (1869) 101

Mass. 25; Commonwealth v. Ellis (1892) 160 Mass. 165, 35
N.E. 773; State v. Sargood (1907) 80 Vt. 412, 68 Adi. 51
[allowing preclusion] with People v. Goss (1993) 200 Mich.App.
9, 503 N.W.2d 682. See generally 147 ALR 991; Comment,
The Use of Collateral Estoppel Against The Accused (1969) 69
Columbia L.R. 515; 1 Witkin & Epstein, Cal. Criminal Law (2d

:
{
1
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=
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;
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A-25

ed. 1988) § 356, pp. 411-413). With but one exception,» it
has not divided the courts of California.

Our decisions have consistently applied collateral estoppel
"by preventing a party who has had one fair trial on an issue
from again drawing it into controversy.” (Teitelbaum Furs, Inc.
v. Dominion Ins. Co., Ltd. (1962) 58 Cal.2d 601, 605 [25
Cal.Rptr. 559, 375 P.2d 439].) Prosecutors have been estopped
from murder prosecutions (People v. Taylor (1974) 12 Cal.3d
686 [117 Cal.Rptr. 70, 527 P.2d 622) and and criminal defendants
from presenting a defense (People v. Majado (1937) 22

5/ In People v. Hogue (1991) 228 Cal.App.3d 1500 [279
Cal.Rptr. 647] the defendant was charged with four sex crimes.
All "were . . . sex acts upon a single victim closely connected in
time." (Id. at p. 1502. Emphasis added.) At his first trial, the
defense was alibi and mistaken identity. The jury rejected the
defense and convicted defendant on all counts. On appeal, one
count was reversed because the trial court failed to instruct on its
"10 years older" element. The other three counts were affirmed.

At the second trial, defendant was collaterally estopped from
relitigating identity (and therefore alibi). Defendant then waived
jury and was found guilty by the court. On appeal, the convic-
tion was reversed on the ground it was error to apply collateral
estoppel against defendant.

People v. Hogue is wrongly decided. Irreconcilable with the
Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Ford (1966) 65 Cal.2d 41
[52 Cal.Rptr. 228, 416 P.2d 132], Hogue offers this meta-
physical distinction: "[I]n Ford the issue of defendant's guilt of
the underlying felonies had been tried on the merits and affirmed
on appeal. In other words, the issue to be decided -- whether the
defendant committed certain felonies -- merged with the judg-
ment of conviction of those felonies. By contrast, the issue to be
decided here -- the identity of appellant as the person who
violated section 289, subdivision (j) -- did not merge with the
judgment of conviction on the related counts." (Id. at p. 1504.)

A-26

Cal.App.2d 323 [70 P.2d 1015]). Our decisions have fortified
"the public interest in determining criminal guilt and innocence
at criminal trials" (Lucido v. Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal.3d
335, 352 [272 Cal.Rptr. 767, 795 P.2d 1223]), preserved the
integrity of the judicial system, promoted judicial economy,
protected litigants from harassment (ibid.), "maintain[ed] the
stability of judgments, insure[d] expeditious trials" (People v.
One 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (1969) 274
Cal.App.2d 720, 731 [79 Cal.Rptr. 447]), and spared victims
and witnesses from endless court appearances.

All of these interests--with all due respect to the majority
opinion--would be served by denying the petition.

[24 Cal.App.4th 172] In sum, my answer to the question
is yes. A criminal defendant may be estopped from presenting
a defense. Our cases, as I explain, so hold.

CALIFORNIA CASES: A SUMMARY

People v. Majado (1937) 22 Cal.App.2d 323

The defendant was found guilty of failing to provide for his
minor child (Pen.Code, § 270; statutory references, unless
otherwise noted, are to the Penal Code). He was granted
probation and ordered to pay $15 a month. When probation
expired defendant ceased payments and was again charged with
failure to provide. At this second trial defendant was collaterally
estopped from contesting paternity, that issue having been finally
decided in the first trial. The Court of Appeal approved use of
collateral estoppel against the defendant and affirmed the

conviction.

SRR ey

HAS GE QO WH oF

A-27

Teitelbaum Furs, Inc. v. Dominion Ins. Co., Ltd. (1962) 58
Cal.2d 601

Teitelbaum was convicted of conspiracy to commit grand
theft, attempted grand theft, and filing a fraudulent insurance
claim--all arising from his claimed "fur robbery." After this
criminal conviction was final, Teitelbaum filed a civil suit against
his insurance company alleging the same furs had been robbed
and thus were covered by his insurance policy. A jury found in
his favor but the trial court ruled the evidence insufficient and
granted a new trial. The insurance company moved for judg-
ment notwithstanding the verdict based upon collateral estoppel.
The motion was denied.

Justice Traynor, writing for a unanimous court, reversed the
trial court order denying the insurance company’s motion for
judgment n.o.v., holding that a criminal conviction may be
conclusive in a subsequent civil action and mutuality is not
required for collateral estoppel.

In this landmark case Justice Traynor stated, "Collateral
estoppel applies to successive criminal trials and although not
widely adopted, has been applied in the better reasoned cases that
have dealt with the problem here presented." (Id. at p. 606.
Citations omitted.) One of the criminal cases cited with apparent
approval was People v. Majado. (Ibid.) Justice Traynor further
noted that criminal trials have "rigorous safeguards against unjust
conviction, including the requirements of proof beyond a
reasonable doubt and of a unanimous verdict, the right to
counsel, and a record paid for by the State on appeal. Stability
of j ts and itious trials are served and _no injustice
done, when criminal defendants [24 Cal.App.4th 173]_are
estopped from relitigating issues determined in conformity with
these safeguards.” ((Ibid. Internal citations omitted. Emphasis
added.)

A-28

People v. Ford (1966) 65 Cal.2d 41

In his first trial, defendant was convicted of burglary,
possession of a concealable weapon, robbery, two counts of
kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and first degree
murder of a police officer. He was sentenced to death. On first
appeal, the California Supreme Court reversed the murder
conviction for instructional errors but affirmed the other
convictions.

In the murder retrial, the trial court gave felony murder
instructions and applied collateral estoppel by informing the jury
defendant "had been convicted of robbery, kidnaping and
possession of a concealable weapon by an ex-felon, and reserved
for the jury only the questions whether the homicide was
perpetrated during the commission of any or all of these felonies,
and whether he possessed the intent requisite to the various
felonies at the time of the commission of the homicide." (Id. at
p. 50.)

In approving the trial court’s use of collateral estoppel
against the defendant Justice Peters, for a unanimous court,’
stated: "The doctrine of res judicata applies to criminal as well
as civil proceedings and operates to conclude those matters in
issue which the verdict determined though the offenses be
different. Thus where a defendant is tried on multiple counts of
a single information, each count being considered as a separate
and distinct offense, the doctrine of res judicata operates to
preclude the relitigation of issues finally determined upon retrial
of only one count. It follows that the doctrine of res judicata
justifies instructions, where relevant, that a defendant has been
found guilty of crimes finally adjudicated which are charged as
elements in another charge or charges then in the process of
being retried. Accordingly, it was not error for the trial court to
give appropriate instructions that defendant had been convicted

6/ Justice McComb dissented but not as to this issue.

A-29

of the various felonies, and that if they found that defendant’s
commission of such felonies was conjoined with his commission
of the homicide, they might predicate their verdict on the
felony-murder rule articulated in Penal Code section 189." (Id.
at pp. 50-51. Internal citations omitted.)

To avoid the apparent controlling effect of Ford, the
majority opinion asserts Ford is "distinguishable . . . factually and
procedurally.". (Maj. opn., p. 385.) ‘If there is a procedural
distinction the majority opinion does not specify it. A procedural
distinction is a partial reversal in Ford versus a full affirmance in
the instant case. Perhaps the majority opinion is suggesting [24
Cal.App.4th 174] that a judgment, reversed in part, has greater
collateral estoppel effect than a judgment fully affirmed.

The majority opinion’s factual distinction is no more
persuasive. Ford was permitted to raise a diminished capacity
defense to the murder charge because that charge had been
reversed and thus collateral estoppel was inapplicable. Ford was
precluded from raising all other defenses collaterally estopped by
his affirmed convictions on the other charges (robbery, kidnap-
ping, etc.). Ford’s retrial was fair--notwithstanding his being
collaterally estopped from raising potential defenses--because
application of the collateral estoppel doctrine is fair.

People v. Superior Court (Scofield) (1967) 249 Cal.App.2d 727
[57 Cal.Rptr. 818]

Defendants were charged with conspiracy and 28 counts of
submitting false insurance claims. They were temporarily
discharged when Superior Court Judge Lawler granted their
motions to suppress the evidence (seized pursuant to a search
warrant) and set aside the indictment (Sec. 995). But on appeal
by the People, Judge Lawler’s orders were reversed because
another Superior Court judge, Judge Wapner, had previously
upheld the seizure.

A-30

Justice Fourt, writing for Justices Wood and Lillie, stated:
"We are persuaded that the principles of res judicata apply in
criminal matters to bar a redetermination of identical issues
decided in a prior proceeding instituted by the same parties.
Once the prosecutor has convinced a trier of fact to find a certain
fact (and that determination becomes final), he should not have
the burden of proving again and again that same fact in court
after court.” (Id. at p. 735, 57 Cal.Rptr. 818.)

People v. One 1964 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible (1969) 274
Cal.App.2d 720

Frederick Busch borrowed his father’s Corvette and later,
when the police found marijuana in it, was convicted of marijua-
na possession. Thereafter, the police instituted forfeiture
proceedings against the Corvette and Mr. Busch (the father) filed
an answer denying that either he or his son knew there was
marijuana in the car. The People moved for summary judgment
(seeking collateral estoppel based upon Frederick Busch’s
conviction) but the motion was denied. A jury then returned a
verdict denying forfeiture. The trial court, however, granted a
new trial motion and, after some delay, summary judgment for
the People (based upon collateral estoppel).

Justice Lillie, for a unanimous court, affirmed the judg-
ment. She rejected Mr. Busch’s claims that collateral estoppel
should not be applied against him [24 Cal.App.4th 175]
because he was not a party to the criminal proceeding, had no
notice of it, was not in privity with any party, and no appeal had
been taken. (Id. at p. 729.) Justice Lillie stated, "Collateral
estoppel may be invoked to conclusively resolve any issue
necessarily determined in previous litigation between the same
parties or their privies.” (Id. at p. 726.) Regarding "privies,"
Justice Lillie noted: “However, to maintain the stability of
judgments, insure expeditious trials, prevent ““vexatious litigation
with its attendant expense both to the parties and to the public”

A-31

and to serve the ends of justice, more and more our courts are
striving to give effect to judgments by extending ‘privies’ beyond
the classical description to include relationships not originally
embraced therein.” (Id. at p. 731.)

People v. Taylor (1974) 12 Cal.3d 686

Defendant Taylor was to be the getaway driver for his con-
federate robbers, Daniels and Smith. But things did not go as
planned. The intended robbery victims, Mr. & Mrs. West,
fearing that gun wielding Smith would execute them as he
threatened to do, each shot at Smith, killing him. Both Taylor
and Daniels were charged with murder (causing Smith’s death by
inciting the Wests to shoot him) and robbery. Daniels, tried
first, was convicted of robbery but acquitted of murder.

Taylor, tried second, was convicted of both robbery and
murder. The Supreme Court reversed the murder conviction on
collateral estoppel grounds. The Court stated: "Since defendant
was sitting in the getaway car outside the store at the time of the
shooting, his subsequent conviction for murder could result only
upon a finding that one of his confederates, Daniels or Smith,
harbored malice which the trier of fact then attributed to de-
fendant because of his role as an aider and abettor. (See § 31.)

At Daniels’ trial the People already have sought and have failed
to establish that either Daniels or Smith entertained the requisite
malice aforethought. Defendant thus argues that the doctrine of
collateral estoppel should have precluded the People from
relitigating this identical issue at his later trial. We agree.” (Id.
at p. 691.)

In explaining why the prosecution could not prosecute
Taylor even once for murder the Supreme Court cited strong
policy considerations. Besides judicial economy ("even more
important in criminal than in civil trials" (id. at p. 695)) and
avoiding vexatious litigation, the Court underscored the impor-
tance of avoiding contradictory verdicts. It stated, "Perhaps the

A-32

most compelling reason for an application of collateral estoppel
where vicarious liability is at issue is to prevent the compromis-
ing of the integrity of the judicial system caused by the rendering
of inconsistent verdicts. [24 Cal.App.4th 176] Criminal trials
generally receive more publicity than civil ones, and the public’s
view of the judicial system in general is often shaped by the
impression of the fairness of the criminal justice system in
particular.” (Id. at pp. 695-696.)

People _v. White (1986) 185 Cal.App.3d 822 [231 Cal Rptr.
569]

On March 28, 1979, the bullet riddled bodies of Phyllis
Lamboy and Darryl Charles were found in a vacant San Fran-
cisco housing project. Appellant was charged with their murders.
At his first trial a jury convicted appellant of both first degree
murders but found a firearm use allegation not true (there was
evidence appellant’s brother may also have been involved). On
appeal, the convictions were reversed (improper hearsay evidence
had been admitted).

At the second trial the prosecution relied on two theories:
appellant was the shooter; appellant aided the shooter. The jury
(without specifying which theory they relied on) again convicted
appellant of both first degree murders.

The Court of Appeal reversed the convictions because the
"shooter theory” had been collaterally estopped by the first jury’s
not true finding.

Although for almost all other purposes, an enhancement
allegation such as firearm use (§ 12022.5) is an appendage to a
substantive count, without independent viability, for collateral
estoppel purposes a not true finding survives the death (reversal)

A-33

of the substantive count. This result” fortifies our jury trial
system and reduces the risk of contradictory jury findings.

A finding, made at a probation revocation hearing, that
defendant did not commit a crime will not bar a prosecution
charging defendant with the commission of that crime.

Collateral estoppel is inapplicable, not because all its
threshold requirements have not been satisfied, but because ap-
plying it would "undermine the [24 Cal.App.4th 177] public
interest in determining criminal guilt and innocence at criminal
trials.” (Id. at p. 352. Emphasis added.)

This decision preserves and strengthens the vitality of our

jury trial system.

People v. Percifull (1992) 9 Cal. App.4th 1457 [12 Cal Rptr.2d
331)

Applying Lucido, Percifull holds that a finding, made at a
dependency hearing, parents had not criminally abused their child
will not bar a child abuse criminal conviction.

This holding affirms the primacy of jury trial in our
criminal justice system.

Z/ People v. Asbury (1985) 173 Cal.App.3d 362 [218 Cal. Rptr.
902], with similar facts, reaches the same result. See also People

v. Griffin (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 801 [27 Cal. Rptr.2d 721].

The majority opinion accepts the holding of White, Asbury,
and Griffin: a jury’s reasonable doubt finding collaterally estops
the prosecution. What the majority opinion apparently does not
accept is that a jury’s finding beyond a reasonable doubt, which
is affirmed and final on appeal, may have any collateral estoppel
effect on a criminal defendant.

A-34

CONCLUSION

As California appellate decisions make clear, when the jury’s
finding -- that it was Abraham Gutierrez who shot Sandra Zarate
-- became final, Mr. Gutierrez could not again "draw| | into
controversy” (Teitelbaum Furs, Inc. v. Dominion Ins. Co., Ltd.,
supra, 58 Cal.2d 601, 605) that same issue.

Although Mr. Gutierrez would not benefit from this
application of the collateral estoppel doctrine, other defendants
would. Their last refuge is a jury trial. It, with all attendant
protections -- presumption of innocence, proof beyond a
reasonable doubt, unanimous verdict, right to counsel -- not only
protects the innocent but also, given a reasonable doubt, the
guilty.

But this last refuge -- expensive, time consuming, some-
times ineffectual -- perseveres only so long as it enjoys public
confidence. That confidence is undermined by the "specter of a
system" (People v. Taylor, supra, 12 Cal.3d 686, 696) which
would allow one fair jury to find Mr. Gutierrez did shoot Sandra
Zarate and another fair jury to find he did not. To permit such
a "specter" is to encourage erosion of jury trial as we know it and
to aid proposals for non-unanimous verdicts, for 10- or 8- or
6-person juries, and for further elimination of jury trial for
"minor" offenses.

Jury trial is the cornerstone of our justice system. I would
preserve not degrade it. For that reason, I respectfully dissent.

CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION.

WOODS, (Fred), J.

A-35

OFFICE OF THE CLERK
COURT OF APPEAL
STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
JOSEPH A. LANE, CLERK

DIVISION: 7 DATE: 05/10/94

Appellate Division
Brent Riggs

849 So. Broadway

11th FI.

Los Angeles, CA. 90014

RE: Gutierrez, Abraham
vs.
S.c.La.
People of the State of California
2 Criminal BO78255
Los Angeles NO. KA016953

THE COURT:

Petition for rehearing denied.

A-36

Second Appellate District, Division Seven, No. B078255
$034957

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

IN BANK

Supreme Court
ABRAHAM GUTIERREZ, Petitioner FILED

AUG 11 1994
v. Robert Wandruff

Clerk

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR
COURT, Respondent Deputy
THE PEOPLE, Real Party in Interest [stamp]

Petition for review DENIED.
Kennard, J. is of the opinion the petition should be granted.

Lucas

Chief Justice

A-37

GIL GARCETTI COURT OF APPEAL-
District Attorney SECOND DIST.

of Los Angeles County FILED

849 South Broadway, 11th Floor AUG 17 1994

Los Angeles, California 90014- Joseph A. Lane = Clerk
3570

Telephone: (213) 974-1615 Deputy Clerk
Attorney for Plaintiff and Appel- [stamp]
lant

AUG 18 IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF

1994 THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
[stamp] SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
Granted DIVISION THREE
Lillie
(PJ.]
[handwritten]
ABRAHAM GUTIERREZ, ) No. B078255
Petitioner, )
Vv ) (LASC No. KA016953,

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE ) Honorable Alfonso M.
STATE OF CALIFORNIA, ) Bazan, Judge)
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, ) APPLICATION FOR

Respondent, ) STAY OF ISSUANCE
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF ) OF REMITTITUR
CALIFORNIA, ) (IMMEDIATE STAY
Real Party in Interest. ) REQUESTED)

)
[Text of request for stay, ending with the prayer: |

WHEREFORE, the People, applicant herein, respectfully
request that this honorable court stay the issuance of the
remittitur in this case for good cause until November 9, 1994,
pursuant to Rule 25(c) of the California Rules of Court, in order
to permit the filing by the People of the State of California a

A-38

petition for writ of certiorari with the Supreme Court of the
United States, or until such earlier date that the People advise
this court of any decision to not pursue certiorari, and that, upon
the timely filing of such petition, said stay and order remain in
force until final adjudication of the proceeding in the Supreme
Court of the United States.

[Declaration under penalty of perjury and signature. }

A-39

California statutes and rules
involved in the issues

"Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus,
with malice aforethought." CAL. PENAL CODE, § 187, subd. (a)
(1994).

"All murder which is perpetrated by means of a destructive
device or explosive, knowing use of ammunition designed
primarily to penetrate metal or armor, poison, lying in wait,
torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premedi-
tated killing, or which is committed in the perpetration of, or
attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, mayhem,
or any act punishable under Section 288, is murder of the first
degree; and all other kinds of murders are of the second degree."
CAL. STATUTES 1982, chap. 950, § 1 (current version at CAL.
PENAL CODE, § 189, Ist 1 (1994)).

"Except as provided in subdivision (b), every person guilty of
murder in the second degree shall suffer confinement in the state
prison for a term of 15 years to life.". CAL. STATUTES 1987,
chap. 1006, § 1 (current version at CAL. PENAL CODE, $ 1990,
subd. (a), second par. (1994)).

"To make the killing either murder or manslaughter, it is
requisite that the party die within three years and a day after the
stroke received or the cause of death administered." CAL. PENAL
CODE, § 194, first sentence (1994).

"Any person who shall maliciously and willfully discharge a
firearm at an ... occupied motor vehicle ... is guilty of a
felony, and upon conviction shall be punished by imprisonment
in the state prison for three, five, or seven years, or by imprison-
ment in the county jail for a term of not less than six months and

A-40

not exceeding one year. CAL. PENAL CODE, § 246, first par.
(1994).

"Every person who attempts to commit any crime, but fails,
or is prevented or intercepted in the perpetration thereof, is
punishable, where no provision is made by law for the punish-
ment of such attempts, as follows:

"1. Offenses punishable by imprisonment in the state
prison. ... [I]f the crime attempted is willful, deliberate, and
premeditated murder, as defined in Section 189, the person
guilty of that attempt shall be punishable by imprisonment in the
state prison for life with the possibility of parole;.... The
additional term provided in this section for attempted willful,
deliberate, and premeditated murder shall not be imposed unless
the fact that the attempted murder was willful, deliberate, and
premeditated is charged in the accusatory pleading and admitted
or found to be true by the trier of fact." CAL. PENAL CODE,
§ 664, subd. 1 (1994).

"(a) Except as provided in subdivisions (b) and (c), any person
who personally uses a firearm in the commission or attempted
commission of a felony shall, upon conviction of such felony or
attempted felony, in addition and consecutive to the punishment
prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he or she
has been convicted, be punished by an additional term of
imprisonment in the state prison for three, four, or five years,
unless use of a firearm is an element of the offense of which he
or she was convicted. . . .

"(b) Notwithstanding subdivision (a), any person who is
convicted of a felony or an attempt to commit a felony, including
murder or attempted murder, in which that person discharged a
firearm at an occupied motor vehicle which caused great bodily
injury or death to the person of another, ... shall, upon
conviction of that felony or attempted felony, in addition and
consecutive to the sentence prescribed for the felony or attempt-

A-41

ed felony, be punished by an additional term of imprisonment in
the state prison for five years." CAL. STATUTES 1989, chap.
1167, § 5 (current version at CAL. PENAL CODE, § 12022.5,
subds. (a), (b)(1) (1994); formerly § 12022.5, subds. (a), (b)
(1990)).

"Any person who, with the intent to inflict such injury,
personally inflicts great bodily injury on any person other than an
accomplice in the commission or attempted commission of a
felony shall, in addition and consecutive to the punishment
prescribed for the felony or attempted felony of which he has
been convicted, be punished by an additional term of three years,
unless infliction of great bodily injury is an element of the
offense of which he is convicted.

"As used in this section, great bodily injury means a significant
or substantial physical injury.

"This section shall not apply to murder or manslaughter . . . .
The additional term provided in this section shall not be imposed
unless the fact of great bodily injury is charged in the accusatory
pleading and admitted or found true by the trier of fact." CAL.
STATUTES 1979, chap. 145, § 17 (current version at CAL.
PENAL CODE, § 12022.7, subds. (a), (d), (e) (1994)).

"A decision of a Court of Appeal becomes final as to that
court 30 days after filing.". CAL. RULES OF COURT, RULE
24(a), 3rd par., 1ut sent.

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Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/brief%3Amicro_IA40386012_0698%3A1. Public record. Not legal advice.
