In the Supreme Court of the United States
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NO. 18-_____ In the Supreme Court of the United States SHANKER PATEL, Petitioner, v. PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, Respondent. On Petition for a Writ of Certiorari to the State of California, Second District Court of Appeals PETITION FOR WRIT OF CERTIORARI COREY EVAN PARKER, ESQ. COUNSEL OF RECORD LAW OFFICE OF COREY EVAN PARKER 1230 ROSECRANS AVE, SUITE 300 MANHATTAN BEACH, CA 90266 (424) 456-3193 [email protected] MAY 13, 2019 SUPREME COURT PRESS ♦ (888) 958-5705 ♦ BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS i QUESTION PRESENTED Where in sixteen States, including California, whence this present case arises, the law requires cor- roboration of an accomplice’s testimony to sustain a conviction, and When no physical evidence connects a defendant to the crime and the evidence of the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt is supplied solely by cir- cumstantial evidence, by the trial testimony of an accomplice, and by the out-of-court statements made by another accomplice, and When the defendant requests that the trial court give to the jury a cautionary instruction about the care with which the jury should face accomplice cor- roboration, THE QUESTION HERE PRESENTED IS: Whether a trial court violates the jury trial guarantees of the Sixth Amendment and U.S. Const. art. III, § 2, cl. 3 by refusing to grant a defendant’s request that the court instruct the jury that the evidence of accomplices ought to be received with suspicion and with the very greatest care and caution and ought not to be passed upon by the jury under the same rules governing other and apparently credible witnesses. See, e.g., Crawford v. United States, 212 U.S. 183, 204 (1909). ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page QUESTION PRESENTED .......................................... i TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ...................................... iv OPINION BELOW ...................................................... 1 JURISDICTION .......................................................... 1 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS INVOLVED ...... 1 INTRODUCTION ....................................................... 2 STATEMENT OF THE CASE .................................... 5 A. In States Where a Person Can Be Convicted of a Crime on the Testimony of an Accomplice Only When Corroborated by Evidence Tending to Connect the Defendant to the Commission of the Crime, It Is an Abridgement of the Jury Trial Guarantees of the Sixth Amendment and U.S. Const. Art. III, § 2, Cl. 3 for a Trial Court to Refuse to Give a Cautionary Instruction When a Defendant Requests It ..................................... 5 B. Evidence of an Accomplice Should Be Received with Great Caution and Scrutin- ized with Great Care and the Lack of an Instruction to That Effect Is Unjust ............... 13 REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION ....... 28 CONCLUSION .......................................................... 33 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Page APPENDIX TABLE OF CONTENTS Opinion of the Court of Appeal of the State of California (November 14, 2018) ......................... 1a Order of the Supreme Court of California Denying Petition for Review (November 13, 2019) ........................................ 45a Abstract of Judgment- Prison Commitment-Indeterminate (March 6, 2017) ................................................. 46a iv TABLE OF AUTHORITIES TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Page CASES Adams v. State, 2003 WY 152, 79 P.3d 526 (Wyo. 2003) ............ 22 Ali v. United States, 581 A.2d 368 (D.C. 1990) .................................. 21 Bacon v. State, 22 Fla. 51 (1889) .................................................. 6 Barco v. Tilton, 694 F.Supp.2d 1122 (C.D. Cal. 2010) ............... 11 Bohnert v. State, 312 Md. 266, 539 A.2d 657 (1988) .................... 17 Bouaily v. United States, 483 U.S. 171 (1987) ........................................... 10 Boykin v. State, 257 So.2d 251 (Fla. 1971) ............................... 8, 25 Brooks v. State, 40 A.3d 346 (Del. 2012) ............................... 14, 21 Brown v. State, 281 Md. 241 (1977) .......................... 13, 14, 17, 23 Bruton v. United States, 391 U.S. 123 (1968) ........................................... 19 Bryan v. United States, 836 A.2d 581 (D.C. 2003) .................................. 14 Caminetti v. United States, 242 U.S. 470 (1917) ................................. 10, 15, 22 Coleman-Fuller v. State, 192 Md. App. 577, 995 A.2d 985 (2010) ............ 32 v TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands v. Muna, 2016 MP 10 (2016) ...... 9, 23, 26 Commonwealth v. Brown, 617 Pa. 107, 52 A.3d 1139 (Pa. 2012) ............... 22 Commonwealth v. Rega, 593 Pa. 659, 933 A.2d 997 (Pa. 2007) ............... 15 Commonwealth v. Resende, 476 Mass. 141, 65 N.E.3d 1148 (Mass. 2017) ............................ 20 Commonwealth v. Wholaver, 177 A.3d 136 (Pa. 2018) .................................... 25 Cool v. United States, 409 U.S. 100 (1972) ........................................ 4, 17 Crawford v. United States, 212 U.S. 183 (1909) .................................... passim Dawson v. State, 329 Md. 275, 619 A.2d 111 (1993) ...................... 19 Dennis v. State, 817 So.2d 741 (Fla. 2002) ........................ 8, 14, 25 Dorman v. United States, 491 A.2d 455 (D.C. 1984) .............................. 7, 26 Douglas v. Alabama, 380 U.S. 415 (1965) ............................................. 19 Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968) ............................................. 3 Evans v. State, 113 Nev. 885, 944 P.2d 253 (Nev. 1997) ........... 21 vi TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page Fallin v. State, 460 Md. 130, 188 A.3d 988, 2018 Md. LEXIS 375, 2018 WL 3410022 (July 12, 2018) .................... 17 Fields v. United States, 396 A.2d 522 (D.C. 1978) .............................. 6, 26 Gaskins v. State, 7 Md. App. 99, 253 A.2d 759 (1969) .................. 32 Holloman v. Commonwealth, 65 Va. App. 147, 775 S.E.2d 434 (Va. App. 2015) ........................ 25 Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) ........................................... 17 Johnson v. Commonwealth, 224 Va. 525, 298 S.E.2d 99 (Va. 1982) ............. 22 Jones v. State, 203 So.3d 600 (Miss. 2016) ......................... 22, 23 Laboa v. Calderon, 224 F.3d 972 (9th Cir. 2000) ......................... 3, 11 Lee v. Illinois, 476 U.S. 530 (1986) ........................................... 19 Linse v. State, 93 Wis. 2d 163, 286 N.W.2d 554 (Wis. 1980) .................. 15, 22, 25 Lowery v. State, 547 N.E.2d 1046 (Ind. 1989) ............................. 21 Luery v. State, 116 Md. 284, 81 A. 681 (1911) .................... 14, 21 M.H. v. State, 382 P.3d 1201 (Alaska Ct. App. 2016) .............. 20 vii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page MacKool v. State, 365 Ark. 416, 231 S.W.3d 676 (Ark. 2006) ....... 20 Martin v. Commonwealth, 409 S.W.3d 340 (Ky. 2013) ................................ 22 McCoy v. State, 112 A.3d 239 (Del. 2015) ......................... 6, 22, 24 McGowan v. State, 990 So.2d 931 (Ala. Crim. App. 2003) .............. 20 Myers v. State, 43 Fla. 500 (1901) ................................................ 6 Osborne v. State, 54 So.3d 841 (Miss. 2011) ................................. 23 People v. Bowers, 801 P.2d 511 (Colo. 1990) .................................. 24 People v. Cobb, 97 Ill. 2d 465, N.E.2d 31, 74 Ill. Dec. 1 (Ill. 1983) ................ 6, 24 People v. Davis, 28 N.Y.3d 294, 44 N.Y.S.3d 358, 66 N.E.3d 1076 (N.Y. 2016) ................................ 21 People v. Garton, 4 Cal.5th 485 (2018) .............................................. 4 People v. Gomez, 189 Colo. 91, 537 P.2d 297 (Colo. 1975) ........... 14 People v. Lemmon, 456 Mich. 625, 576 N.W.2d 129 (Mich. 1998) ............................ 21 People v. McLaurin, 184 Ill. 2d 58, 703 N.E.2d 11, 234 Ill. Dec. 399 (Ill. 1998) ........ 14 viii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page People v. Nitti, 8 Ill. 2d 136, 133 N.E.2d 12 (Ill. 1956) ............. 21 People v. Romero, 62 Cal.4th 1 (2015) .............................................. 20 People v. Whalen, 56 Cal.4th 1 (2013) ............................................ 20 People v. Young, 472 Mich. 130, 693 N.W.2d 801 (Mich. 2005) .................. 7, 15, 26 Phillips v. State, 553 P.2d 1037 (Wyo. 1976) ................................ 15 Pittman v. State, 300 Ga. 894, 799 S.E.2d 215 (Ga. 2017) ........... 24 Postelle v. State, 2011 OK CR 30, 267 P.3d 114 (Okla. Crim. App. 2011) .............. 21 Robinson v. State, 303 Ga. 321, 812 S.E.2d 232 (Ga. 2018) ........... 20 Rohl v. State, 64 Wis. 2d 443, 219 N.W.2d 385 (Wis. 1974) .............................. 23 Shiver v. State, 41 Fla. 631 (1899) ................................................ 6 Smith v. State, 436 S.W.3d 353 (Tex. Crim. App. 2014) ......... 21, 24 Sparkman v. State, 27 Wis. 2d 92, 133 N.W.2d 776 (Wis. 1965) .............................. 23 State ex rel. Franklin v. McBride, 226 W. Va. 375, 701 S.E.2d 97 (W. Va. 2009) ......................... 7, 27 ix TABLE OF AUTHORITIES—Continued Page State v. Adams, 194 N.J. 186, 943 A.2d 851 (N.J. 2008) ......................... 7, 15, 26 State v. Barnes, 791 N.W.2d 817 (Iowa 2010) .............................. 20 State v. Bey, 217 Kan. 251, 535 P.2d 881 (Kan. 1975) .......... 21 State v. Briggs, 152 Vt. 531 A.2d 779 (Vt. 1989) ........................ 15 State v. Cabagbag, 127 Haw. 302, 277 P.3d 1027 (Haw. 2012) ....... 14 State v. Dana, 59 Vt. 614, 10 A. 727 (Vt. 1887) ........................... 22 State v. Dunkelberger, 2018 SD 22, 909 N.W.2d 398 (S.D. 2018) ......... 21 State v. Everybodytalksabout,