Can One Defendant's Statement Be Used Against Another Defendant In The Same Case?
This is an interesting question that frequently arises in criminal defense in Los Angeles and probably all over California and the nation.
Sometimes, defendants get caught for crimes. If there are one, two, three, four, five, or more defendants involved, the police start talking to them, and sometimes, defendants get scared and start talking.
So, the question arises: If one defendant makes an incriminating statement that incriminates them and another defendant, are the prosecutors allowed to use that statement?
Here in Los Angeles, the prosecutors can use a co-defendant's statement against another defendant at the preliminary hearing to hold that defendant to answer; I don't know why. It doesn't make sense to me. It's ridiculous. You rarely get a chance to cross-examine that defendant, so it doesn't seem fair, but that's what the rules are.
Defendant Must Testify at Trial
However, that statement cannot be used at a trial unless that defendant testifies. So, if they have a great statement where a defendant says, " Hey, me and Peewee committed the crime, and I don't know why we did it, we shouldn't have done it, they can use that statement to get Peewee into the trial court.
But when it comes time for the trial, the defendant who made that statement will come in against them and help convict them because he said Peewee and I committed the crime.
However, peewee's defense attorney will say, no, no, no, that can't come in because I have a right to confront whoever made that statement, so if that defendant doesn't testify, the statement can't come in. Sometimes, that defendant will get up in their defense, and they'll try to say no, I'm guilty.
It was Peewee's fault, or no, it was somebody else's fault, and then, of course, the prosecutor is going to say, wait a minute – why did you say you and Peewee did it if you're innocent, and now peewee's attorney is going to go, come on, but peewee's attorney is going to get a chance to cross-examine that defendant and say, why did you have to include peewee in on the statement.
Just be responsible for your activities! So, this is what we call a Miranda Bruton Problem. There're a lot of ways to solve this problem where a co-defendant's statement is going to be used against them but shouldn't be used against another defendant.
Separate Jury Trials
Sometimes the judges in Los Angeles will sever the case so the two defendants get separate jury trials. Then you don't have the problem. The statement against the one guy is not going to come in against peewee, because peewee won't be in the trial.
Another thing I've seen them do is because they want to do only one trial and have to bring all the witnesses in there. It's a big waste of time, energy, and court space in Los Angeles, which is very valuable in a criminal case. So, they'll impanel two juries, and when Peewee's jury is not inside the courtroom while the statement of the co-defendant comes in, that statement will come in.
The co-defendant's jury will hear that and convict the co-defendant because he admitted it, but Peewee's jury will only hear that if the guy is going to testify. So, in that situation, the one defendant will be safe from that statement coming in against him, and they can just defend themselves. And that's the way it should be.
Why should you be responsible for somebody else's statement? They got scared because they admitted things against themselves. Why do they have to lump you in there with him? It's unfair, and that's why we've got that protection: unless the person testified, the statement's not coming in against the co-defendant.
So, if you've got one of these situations where a co-defendant's been talking and saying a bunch of stuff, get to an attorney. I've been doing this for twenty-five years. We'll talk about it.
I've litigated about two hundred jury trials at both the state and federal levels, as well as the juvenile level, so I know how to handle these cases. I know what to do about these statements, and you have to have an expert there if you want to get the best result in your criminal case in Los Angeles, especially when a co-defendant starts talking.
