P. v. Salgado
Victor Hugo Salgado appeals to us following retrial on the same set of charges for which he was convicted originally in 2001. Court reversed the judgment for that conviction in the unpublished opinion, People v. Salgado, numbered G028368 and filed in June 2003. In the judgment following retrial, Salgado received a determinate term of 23 years plus an indeterminate term of 40 years to life.
On appeal from the retrial, Salgado contends our unpublished opinion held his statements to the police were involuntarily given, and thus, their exclusion was binding on any retrial as law of the case. In the alternative, any statements he made subsequent to the interrogating officers use of the inadmissible lie detector test were involuntary, and the retrial court erroneously failed to suppress them. However, we want to emphasize that the retrial court properly deleted all mention of the lie detector test before admitting Salgados incriminatory statements, and thoroughly edited those statements, redacting all language unduly prejudicial or irrelevant.
Additionally, Salgado contends that Roberto Gonzalez, a fellow gang member who testified for the prosecution, was an accomplice as a matter of law for which an instruction to that effect was required to be given sua sponte. Court affirm.
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