People v. Ochoa

Opinion

KING, J.

The People appeal from the trial court’s order dismissing criminal charges against respondents, Richard Ochoa and Lester Harris, follow

[887]

ing the People’s failure to comply with respondents’ discovery request regarding discriminatory law enforcement. We affirm the trial court’s order.

Ochoa and Harris, inmates at San Quentin Prison, were each charged with possessing a weapon as a prisoner. (Pen. Code, § 4502.) Both made motions to dismiss the charges alleging discriminatory enforcement of section 4502 against racial minorities by the Marin County District Attorney and San Quentin Prison. Ochoa is Chicano and Harris is black. They also filed discovery requests to bolster their evidence of discriminatory law enforcement.

Ochoa and Harris supported their motions to dismiss with two declarations. Frank Cox, chief deputy public defender of Marin County, stated that, as of June 30, 1979, 57.6 percent of the inmates at San Quentin were from racial minorities. Of those weapons cases referred to the public defender’s office from January 1982 to June 1983, 15 out of 21 defendants (71.4 percent) were minorities. Terry Zimmerman, deputy public defender, stated that the district attorney received 182 referrals from San Quentin for violations of Penal Code section 4502 during 1982. From January 1982 to November 1983, 16 out of 23 defendants (69.5 percent) referred to the public defender from San Quentin were minorities. The racial makeup of San Quentin’s inmates was 36 percent white, 21 percent black, 19 percent Mexican-American, and 24 percent “other.”

In response, the People filed declarations by John Connolly, the deputy district attorney who issued the complaints against Ochoa and Harris. He stated that he had not considered the defendants’ race in issuing the complaints and that the district attorney’s office had no such policy.

The court ordered production of copies of all Department of Justice forms 8715 (hereafter referral forms) received by the district attorney from January 1, 1982, to November 30, 1983. These forms are filled out by San Quentin prison officials and sent to the district attorney with all referrals for inmate prosecution. The form contains identification of the inmate’s race. James Ingram, associate warden at San Quentin, testified that from January 1982 to November 1983, San Quentin made 541 referrals on weapons offenses to the district attorney. He said it would take a minimum of 16 hours to compile the information requested by the court. The People refused to comply with the discovery order and the court therefore dismissed the charges against Ochoa and Harris. On appeal, the People contend the trial court abused its discretion in ordering discovery of the referral forms.