P. v. Lewis
Defendant Timothy Edward Lewis was found guilty by a jury of one count of possessing a completed check with intent to defraud (Pen. Code, 475, subd. (c)) and two counts of forging checks (Pen. Code, 470, subd. (a)). On appeal he raises numerous contentions concerning the admissibility of certain incriminating extrajudicial statements by Valerie Williams, an alleged collaborator in the offenses, who was not available to testify at trial. We hold that defendants right to confront his accusers was violated when the trial court admitted evidence of incriminating statements Williams made to a deputy district attorney immediately prior to, but not introduced in evidence at, defendants preliminary hearing. Since her testimony at that hearing was entirely exculpatory, and since no evidence of the incriminating statements was introduced there, cross-examination of her concerning those alleged statements would have been prohibited by Proposition 115. Since defendant was thus statutorily barred from confronting Williams concerning those alleged statements, his constitutional rights were violated by their admission at trial. Further, the court abused its discretion when it admitted evidence of defendants prior convictions on the ground that his attorney had opened the door to character evidence by asking defendants employer whether he had terminated defendants employment as of a specified date. Court hold that the constitutional error was not harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. Accordingly, court reverse the judgment.
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