Zamudio v. Superior Court

74 Cal.Rptr.2d 765 (1998) 64 Cal.App.4th 24 Samuel Jimenez ZAMUDIO, Petitioner,

v.

The SUPERIOR COURT of Los Angeles County, Respondent;

The People, Real Party in Interest.

No. B119452. Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Four.

May 21, 1998. [766] Michael P. Judge, Public Defender, Albert J. Menaster, John Montoya and Terri Towery, Deputy Public Defenders, for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

Gil Garcetti, District Attorney, George M. Palmer and Brentford J. Ferreira, Deputy District Attorneys, for Real Party in Interest.

HASTINGS, Associate Justice.

On November 17, 1997, petitioner, Samuel Jimenez Zamudio, was convicted of two counts of first degree murder with special circumstances. On November 21, 1997, the jury recommended the death penalty for petitioner.

On January 9, 1998, counsel for petitioner filed with respondent a "MOTION FOR ACCESS TO REDACTED COPIES OF THE JURY QUESTIONNAIRES OF THE TWELVE JURORS IN THIS CASE." Counsel sought access to each of the jury questionnaires utilized during voir dire but with any and all personal juror identifying information, as contemplated within Code of Civil Procedure section 237, subdivision (a)(2), redacted. (All further statutory references will be to the Code of Civil Procedure unless otherwise noted.) No opposition was filed by the People. At a hearing on January 16, 1998, the court denied counsel's request with the following statement: "But there has to be a showing as to why, some jury misconduct, some information that somebody has that the jurors didn't properly deliberate, took into consideration factors that they should have not taken into consideration, something in that general nature for which the court then can make an order saying, yes, based upon that showing, you have a right to have access to that juror information."

On February 3, 1998, in order to comply with the court's direction, counsel filed a new motion "for an order (1) providing counsel with copies of juror questionnaires, excluding the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of the jurors; and (2) setting a hearing for release of identifying information, consisting of names, addresses, and telephone numbers, for all jurors who deliberated in this trial." In support of the motion counsel filed the declaration of his investigator which indicated that the investigator had spoken with one of the jurors, Ms. A. The investigator's declaration then provides the following information: