Full opinion text
Opinion GEORGE, C. J. Defendant Kristin William Hughes appeals from a judgment of the Monterey County Superior Court imposing a sentence of death following his conviction of first degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187), first degree robbery (§ 211), first degree burglary (§ 459), and sodomy (§ 286, subd. (c)). The jury found true the special circumstance allegations that the killing was committed in the perpetration of burglary (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(G)), robbery (id., subd. (a)(17)(A)), and forcible sodomy (id., subd. (a)(17)(D)), and it also found true the allegations that, as to all four counts, defendant personally used a deadly or dangerous weapon, a knife (§ 12022, subd. (b)). In addition to sentencing defendant to death on the murder conviction, the trial court imposed a total determinate term of 14 years and eight months on the remaining convictions, but stayed that term pending this appeal of the death judgment. Defendant’s appeal is automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) We affirm the judgment in its entirety. I. Facts and Procedure On September 7, 1989, after ingesting cocaine and alcohol for much of the prior day and night, defendant reported for work as a construction laborer, but soon passed out at the jobsite. Richard James, defendant’s boss, found him lying on the ground with his eyes partially open. Defendant jumped up and attempted to speak, slurred badly, and had trouble standing. James told defendant to go home and “straighten himself up.” Defendant’s home was in Pacific Grove, less than one-half of a mile from the jobsite. Defendant recently had moved into Jan Bishop’s studio apartment. Upstairs from Bishop resided Kim Hickman, a masseuse employed at a shop in Monterey. Hickman returned from the shop to her apartment at approximately 12:00 noon to clean it in preparation for vacating the premises. (During the prior two weeks she had been sleeping at her boyfriend’s home, during which time she had begun moving her possessions to his house.) Defendant had met Hickman briefly the prior day, when she had dropped off a birthday present for Bishop at Bishop’s apartment. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., an apartment complex neighbor, Olav Kvaslerud, noticed water seeping through his living room ceiling. Kvaslerud went to Hickman’s unit to investigate the leak, but received no response. He then inquired at Bishop’s unit, to determine whether there was leakage there as well. Defendant answered the door and did not appear to be intoxicated. Defendant accompanied Kvaslerud to his apartment, where they viewed the leak, which had turned a “little reddish.” Kvaslerud asked defendant whether he thought the liquid contained blood. Defendant did not answer, and left. Kvaslerud looked inside Hickman’s apartment from a window and saw a woman’s body. He called the police, who found Hickman’s door unlocked. Pacific Grove Officers Heredia and Cox arrived, and observed Hickman on her back in the kitchen, dead, her clothes pulled or tom away, and her ankles and legs propped up against the wall. There was an object (later determined to be defendant’s suspenders) wrapped around her neck. Hickman had suffered numerous deep stab and puncture wounds to her chest. Her shirt was soaked in blood, which had flowed and commingled with water dripping from the open, defrosting refrigerator. Detective Kennedy and Detective Uretsky of the Pacific Grove Police Department were summoned to the scene. They noticed that Hickman was wearing rubber cleaning gloves, and that there was a small scouring sponge saturated with blood and water next to her. Blood was spattered and apparently had been smeared and streaked with a sponge on the walls, stove, and refrigerator. A bloodied hunting knife was on the kitchen floor. Blood was found on various other objects throughout the unit. There were no signs of forced entry into the apartment. After the police arrived, Bishop walked to the nearby beach at Lover’s Point to look for defendant. She saw him there and yelled to him that she thought Hickman had committed suicide. Bishop returned to the area of her apartment, where she sat down outside. Approximately 15 minutes later, defendant also returned and sat next to Bishop, but told her he could not stay because the presence of the police cars made him nervous. After transferring control of the crime scene to Kennedy and Uretsky, Officers Heredia and Cox went outside to maintain security and prevent persons from entering the premises. They cordoned off the area with tape and spoke with several individuals to determine whether they had information or might be witnesses. At approximately 11:45 p.m., Heredia and Cox saw defendant walking near the crime scene. Heredia, in uniform, walked toward defendant and had a brief conversation with him. Heredia inquired whether he could help defendant, and defendant replied that he lived in apartment No. 2. Heredia thought that to be odd, because the officers had spoken with Bishop, who had not mentioned having a boyfriend, husband, or roommate. Heredia asked defendant whether anyone else had spoken with him before Heredia had done so. Defendant replied that he had been there when the police first arrived, and an officer had spoken with him then and had told him that the situation was not “that big a deal” and that defendant could return in a few hours. Heredia told defendant that the situation was “more involved” and that the officers likely would be at the scene until at least late the next day. Defendant replied that this was fine with him and that he would return the next day. Officer Heredia thought that these responses seemed strange under the circumstances. Although he and Officer Cox had been first on the scene, he had not seen defendant speaking with any other officer earlier in the evening. At that point, Heredia decided that Detective Kennedy should speak with defendant, and he summoned Kennedy, who joined the officers and defendant about a minute later. Upon Kennedy’s arrival, Heredia noticed, and pointed out, what appeared to be bloodstains on defendant’s jacket, which was draped on his arm. Throughout these exchanges, the officers smelled alcohol on defendant’s breath and noticed that he had glassy eyes, seemed slightly intoxicated but not “drunk,” and although somewhat unsteady, did not have trouble standing. Detective Kennedy found defendant’s speech to be slightly slurred. Detective Kennedy observed that defendant wore a white shirt bearing a small stain that appeared to be blood, that the front of defendant’s jeans was wet, and that defendant was smoking a Kool brand cigarette. When Kennedy asked defendant whether the jacket on his arm belonged to him, defendant replied that it did. Kennedy asked about the stains on the jacket, and defendant replied that they were from rust. Kennedy informed defendant that he was investigating an assault, and asked whether he could take his jacket and have a criminalist check it for blood. Defendant replied, “Go ahead,” and gave the jacket to Kennedy. The detective took the jacket to a criminalist who was in the crime scene apartment, where he learned that a blood-saturated Kool brand cigarette had been found on the floor directly above Hickman’s right shoulder. The tests on the jacket were inconclusive for fresh blood. During the few minutes in which Detective Kennedy was having the jacket tested, Officers Heredia and Cox remained with defendant. Kennedy returned, stated that the tests were inconclusive, and asked defendant whether he would travel to the police station to speak with him there. Defendant replied, “Sure.” Subsequently, Heredia retrieved a cigarette butt—later determined to be Kool brand—that defendant had discarded on the ground. Detective Kennedy testified that because defendant lived near the victim, he wanted to interview defendant in order to determine whether he had information relating to the homicide investigation, and that it was more appropriate to speak at the station, rather than on the dark street. Defendant was cooperative and expressed no hesitation about traveling to the police station. Detective Kennedy asked Officer Cox to transport defendant to the police station. Before doing so, Cox handcuffed defendant and placed him in the back of a patrol car, explaining that defendant was not under arrest but was being handcuffed for safety reasons. (Officer Cox and Detective Kennedy both testified that this was an “acceptable” procedure used by the police department for transportation of unfamiliar persons, even if not suspects, and that such decisions are left to the transporting officer’s discretion.) Defendant said that he understood, and expressed no reluctance about being handcuffed or traveling to the station. Upon their arrival at the station, Officer Cox removed the handcuffs as soon as defendant exited from the car. Detective Kennedy estimated that, from the time defendant first was seen by the officer until the time he left for the police station, only about seven to 10 minutes elapsed. Within a few minutes of defendant’s arrival at the police station, Detective Kennedy told defendant several times that he was not under arrest, and defendant repeatedly acknowledged that he understood. After defendant was advised of and waived his constitutional rights, Detective Kennedy videotaped a two-hour interview with defendant beginning at 12:30 a.m. on September 8. Defendant denied knowing Hickman, or having ever been inside her apartment. During the interview, defendant lit and smoked cigarettes with no coordination problems, and he appeared coherent and responsive. In the course of the interview, Detective Kennedy noticed “track marks” on defendant’s arm, and defendant admitted using cocaine. After the interview, Kennedy arrested defendant for the homicide of Kim Hickman. Kennedy took defendant’s fingerprints and palm prints, and also took photographs of defendant’s hands and right foot. Later that morning, defendant’s fingerprints and a bloody thumbprint were found at the crime scene, and defendant’s fingerprint was found on a pack of Kool brand cigarettes located in a Dumpster adjacent to the apartment. Identifiable prints could not be lifted from the knife or the gloves found at the scene. Subsequently, two latent impressions of defendant’s fingerprints also were found on a check that had been given to Hickman by a customer on the morning of her death. That check had been altered and cashed by defendant at a nearby Alpha Beta grocery store, within hours of Hickman’s death. With Bishop’s consent, the police searched her apartment and found the following items in a closet and dresser drawer: tennis shoes with a pattern matching prints found at the crime scene, and a maroon-colored Crown Royal bag containing identification and credit cards belonging to other persons—Shirley Barrett-Sheridan and E.E. McFadden. On September 23, 1989, Wendy May participated in a beach cleanup at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove. At that time she found, behind a shrub, a Crown Royal cloth drawstring bag (similar to the one found in Bishop’s apartment) containing Hickman’s cashless wallet, checkbook, and credit cards. Bishop testified that on September 6—the day before Hickman was killed—when Bishop arrived home from work, defendant gave her the bottle of wine and the birthday card that had been dropped off by Hickman. Shortly thereafter, defendant left the apartment with his friend Richard Stanley, and returned about four hours later, appearing somewhat intoxicated and nervous. Bishop and defendant began drinking from a new bottle of rum. Bishop had two drinks from the bottle, before going to bed at 2:00 a.m., while defendant was watching television. When Bishop awoke at 7:00 a.m., defendant still was watching television and drinking rum and appeared drunk, but he managed to get up and told Bishop that he was going to his jobsite. As she left for work, Bishop noticed that the bottle of rum was empty. Defendant was not home when Bishop returned from work at 5:15 p.m. on September 7. He returned about 45 minutes later, wearing clothing different from that which he had worn that morning, and no suspenders. He also appeared different—it seemed to Bishop that defendant had “aged 15 to 20 years,” and that he had been drinking. Defendant gave Bishop a new, unopened bottle of rum to replace the one he had drunk the night before. Bishop asked defendant what was wrong, but he did not respond to that question. He mentioned, however, that he had been to the Alpha Beta grocery store. Defendant again left Bishop’s apartment about 7:20 p.m. and returned approximately 20 minutes later with cigarettes, thereafter encountering Kvaslerud, who was investigating the leak of water into his own apartment. Defendant returned to Bishop’s apartment, where he mixed a rum drink for himself and prepared to depart. When Bishop asked defendant where he was going, he told her it was none of her business, and left with the bottle of rum. A forensic pathologist testified that he examined Hickman’s body at the crime scene at 11:30 p.m. on September 7 and estimated that she had died before 5:30 p.m. that day. Autopsy evidence revealed that her numerous stab wounds were not themselves “rapidly fatal,” that death would not have occurred from the stab wounds until at least an hour after they were inflicted, and that she still was alive when she was strangled with both the suspenders (which had been wrapped tightly around her neck, over some of the stab wounds) and by the pressure of thumbs to the throat. The position of Hickman’s body was consistent with some form of sexual attack. The pathologist testified that it appeared, from the state of rigor mortis, that Hickman’s legs had been propped up against the wall “sometime after death within the first few hours,” at which time she had been partially wiped or washed down. Also indicating that the body had been moved some time after death was the circumstance that the bottom of her feet, although covered with dried blood, had left no transfer of blood onto the wall. The pathologist testified that there was bruising two to three inches inside the victim’s rectum, that this bruising had occurred shortly before death, and that the bruising was consistent with penetration by a blunt object such as a penis or a finger. Tests for evidence of defendant’s seminal fluids or pubic hair at the crime scene were negative. A criminalist testified that he found type A blood—a match with Hickman’s, and different from defendant’s type O—on one of the tennis shoes found in Bishop’s closet. James Zoellin testified that between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. on September 7, he was in charge of the Pacific Grove Alpha Beta store, where defendant previously had worked for a few months. Defendant entered the store and presented Zoellin with a check, which he asked to cash. Zoellin noticed nothing unusual about defendant’s behavior. With Zoellin’s approval, store employees cashed the check, which later was determined to have been made out originally to Hickman. Testimony by a documents expert linked defendant’s handwriting to the “pay to order” and endorsement lines of the check. An Alpha Beta store clerk testified that she believed she recalled defendant purchasing “alcohol of some type” with the check proceeds. Another store employee testified that the black suspenders found wrapped around Hickman’s neck were “exactly” like the distinctive suspenders that defendant had worn when he worked at the store. Defendant presented evidence demonstrating his level of intoxication on the night before and on the day of the killing. Bishop testified that defendant mixed drinks on September 6 from a 750-milliliter bottle of 80-proof rum, but conceded that she previously had stated that the bottle was larger and that it was 151 proof. Richard Stanley, defendant’s friend, testified that he and defendant drank alcoholic beverages and ingested cocaine on two occasions on September 6, that defendant had searched unsuccessfully on that date for means to inject the cocaine, and that when he left defendant at Bishop’s apartment between 9:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. that same night, defendant was intoxicated and still had about half of the one-sixteenth of an ounce of cocaine powder that defendant had purchased earlier that evening. Urine and blood samples taken from defendant at 2:40 a.m. and 3:40 a.m. on September 8 tested positive for cocaine and alcohol, and these tests showed that at 3:40 a.m., defendant had a blood-alcohol concentration of .09 percent. A forensic toxicologist testified that cocaine stimulates the central nervous system, whereas alcohol depresses mental and physical functions. In response to hypothetical questions from defense counsel, another expert, Department of Justice laboratory criminalist Juan Bergado, testified that given a .09 percent blood-alcohol level at 3:40 a.m., a 135-pound person (defendant’s approximate weight at the time of booking) would have had a .17 percent blood-alcohol level at 11:45 the prior evening. Bergado further testified that if such a person had consumed all but two ounces of a 750-milliliter bottle of a beverage containing 80-proof alcohol over a 14-hour period starting at 6:00 p.m. on September 6, that person would have a blood-alcohol level of approximately .26 percent by 8:00 a.m. on September 7 and about .16 percent at noon on that date. In response to further hypotheticals from defense counsel, Bergado also testified that if a beverage containing 151-proof (instead of 80-proof) alcohol were consumed, the blood-alcohol level would have been approximately .49 percent by 8:00 a.m. on September 7, and about .33 percent at 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on that date. Finally, Bergado explained that most persons whose blood-alcohol level is between .25 and .35 percent would be “stuporous”—that is, the person would have great difficulty getting up and moving about, and be very unsteady, incoherent, and disoriented—and that most persons with a blood-alcohol level above .35 percent would be “unconscious,” that is, unable to stand erect or move without support, and would be unaware of their surroundings. Bergado added that the effects of impairment at these highest levels would be obvious to an untrained observer, but that an untrained observer might have some difficulty discerning impairment of a person whose blood-alcohol level was .15 percent or lower. In response to questions from the prosecution, Bergado testified that if a 135-pound man had no alcohol in his system at 10:00 p.m., and then proceeded to consume 23 ounces of 80-proof alcohol until 7:00 a.m., the man would have a .30 percent blood-alcohol level by approximately 7:30 a.m., would be able to force himself to get up, walk, converse, and walk to work, and would have a blood-alcohol level of approximately .22 percent by noon. By contrast, Bergado testified that if the same person consumed the same amount of 151-proof alcohol under the same conditions, he would have a .56 percent blood-alcohol level by approximately 7:30 a.m., and for the next few hours would be unable to get up, walk, converse, or walk to work. Dr. Steven Pittel, a psychologist specializing in the effects of drugs and alcohol, testified for the defense concerning the extent to which defendant was impaired by drugs or alcohol during the commission of the crime. Dr. Pittel reviewed defendant’s family background and noted that defendant’s parents and siblings had long histories of alcohol and drug abuse, and that defendant himself had a history of drug abuse. Pittel opined that on the night of Bishop’s birthday (September 6), defendant became very drunk after Bishop expressed anger with him for spending insufficient time with her, and that when defendant subsequently was sent home from work the following morning for being drunk, he was depressed and viewed his situation as the culmination of a series of disappointments. Dr. Pittel, like the expert who preceded him, testified concerning hypothetical blood-alcohol levels on the morning before the killing. Pittel stated that if defendant’s blood-alcohol level was .26 percent at 8:00 a.m., defendant still would have been significantly impaired at noon (when he would have had an approximately .18 percent blood-alcohol level) and would have been on the borderline of impairment at 2:00 p.m. (when he would have had approximately .14 percent blood alcohol). Dr. Pittel also testified that if defendant’s blood-alcohol level were .49 percent at 8:00 a.m., defendant still would have been, at noon, “extraordinarily” impaired (at which time he would have had approximately .30 percent blood alcohol)—that is, defendant would have had difficulty reasoning, and possibly would have been unconscious. Dr. Pittel stated that although a person who has ingested both alcohol and cocaine may appear to be less impaired than one who has ingested one substance alone, this appearance is misleading, because cocaine balances out the coordination and slurred speech problems caused by alcohol, while the alcohol “takes off some of the edge” from the stimulant effect of the cocaine. Finally, Pittel testified that a person experiencing alcoholic “blackout” engages in “automatism”—a complex sequence of behavior with no recall of the behavior. Pittel asserted that the combination of drugs and alcohol ingested by defendant likely caused “significant impairment” of defendant’s mental abilities at the time of the charged crimes. Still, Pittel stated the circumstance that a person’s memory of an event is impaired does not signify that the person lacked control of his actions at the time of the event. The prosecution, on rebuttal, presented evidence establishing that defendant’s place of employment on September 7 was approximately four-tenths of a mile from Bishop’s apartment, and that in order to walk that distance, one needed to cross several intersections, including one of Pacific Grove’s main thoroughfares. John Purdom, a police officer who lived near Bishop’s apartment, testified that between 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. on September 7, he and his fiancée were at home and noticed defendant walking up a hill with his bicycle on 16th Street above Lover’s Point, heading toward the Alpha Beta store. Purdom testified that his fiancée, who had been employed at that store with defendant, spoke with defendant for five to 10 minutes. Officer Purdom found that defendant seemed to act and speak in a “completely normal” fashion. Purdom’s fiancée confirmed these observations, adding that this encounter occurred between 3:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., or possibly 4:00 p.m. at the latest. A Seaside police detective testified that he interviewed defendant at 1:00 p.m. on September 8, at which time defendant recounted meeting Purdom on the previous afternoon, admitted ingesting cocaine on the day prior to the killing, denied using crack or rock cocaine, stated that on the last occasion on which he had used cocaine he had “done about a gram,” and explained that although doing so did not make him feel “bad,” it did make him “a little bit antsy,” and “that’s where the liquor help[ed].” Finally, defendant told the detective that he remembered clearly everything that had happened the previous day and had no memory gaps. Pacific Grove Detective Uretsky testified that during the morning of September 11, he spoke with defendant about undertaking a “rape kit examination,” explaining that defendant would be transported to a local hospital for the taking of (among other things) fingernail and toenail scrapings. At that point, defendant requested that he be provided an attorney, and was returned to his cell for a few minutes while Uretsky telephoned the public defender’s office. Upon returning to defendant’s cell, Uretsky found him hunched over his sink, cleaning his hands. Uretsky testified that defendant’s fingernails, which previously had been of moderate length and dirty under the cuticles, were “notably different”—they had been bitten or cut, and the dirt had been removed. The jury deliberated for just under two hours before returning its verdict of guilty as charged on all counts and finding true the special circumstances alleged. At the penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution introduced evidence that defendant had suffered one prior felony conviction for escape, and three prior felony convictions for residential burglary. A deputy sheriff at the Monterey County jail testified that a “shank”-like object that could be used for stabbing was found in defendant’s jail cell where he kept his possessions. The defense presented the following evidence in mitigation: Defendant was the seventh of eight children. His father was an electronics executive who owned his own firm. The family enjoyed skiing and sailboating, but defendant was unable to participate in those activities because he had club feet, for which he had undergone various surgeries. When he was 10 years of age, defendant’s parents separated and his mother left home, never to return. There was no discipline in defendant’s home, and his siblings began skipping school and using drugs and alcohol. Defendant’s father moved the family to Florida and remarried, but the foregoing problems continued and worsened. As defendant’s older siblings became more involved in drugs and alcohol and became truants, defendant was “lost in the shuffle.” When defendant was 13 years of age, the family moved to New Hampshire, where defendant was placed in a local boarding school. A few years later, after one of defendant’s sisters died in a fire, defendant’s parents began to drink heavily and, according to defendant’s father, “did not care whether [defendant] lived or died.” Although the family’s children were well provided for materially, one of defendant’s sisters testified that the family’s children were “warehoused” without direction, discipline, love, or affection from their parents. Eventually, defendant began to consume drugs with his siblings. A sister testified that when high on drugs, defendant became “very scary.” Defendant’s former girlfriend, Susan Pothier, testified that he had lived with her family for a time, but was asked to leave when her parents discovered that he was injecting cocaine. Her relationship with defendant then ended. She described him as gentle and easygoing but suffering from low self-esteem, and she admitted she had been out of contact with him for the past six years and no longer knew him. Similar testimony was given by Rita Dolbeare, Pothier’s mother. A defense psychologist who had prepared a report on defendant’s psychological history and background testified that defendant’s chaotic and unstable family situation affected his ability to cope with life, giving him a “low frustration tolerance”—problem exacerbated by his drug use, which apparently began at the age of 13 years. Jerry Enomoto, the past Director of the California Department of Corrections, testified that based upon defendant’s prison records, it appeared to him that in the event defendant were to be incarcerated in a maximum security prison, he would make a satisfactory adjustment to a term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. On rebuttal, the prosecution introduced the testimony of a jail guard who recounted that when defendant was notified that a report would be written concerning his misconduct (involving an incident in which defendant placed cardboard over the locking mechanism of his door), defendant responded by saying “something like ‘go ahead, I don’t care, there is nothing you can do to me because I’m going away to prison for life anyway.’ ” After slightly more than five hours of deliberations, the jury returned a verdict of death. II. Claims and Analysis A. Pretrial Issues 1. Delayed arraignment Immediately after his police interview in the early morning of Friday, September 8, 1989, Detective Kennedy, at the request of defendant’s parole officer, placed defendant in custody on a parole hold for the use of cocaine. Also at that time, Detective Kennedy arrested defendant for the homicide of Hickman. Defendant was not arraigned until September 13, and asserts now that this delay violated his statutory and constitutional rights. In support, defendant relies upon section 825, codifying the right to arraignment “without unnecessary delay” and, in any event, within two days (now “48 hours”) after arrest by warrant. (See also Cal. Const., art. I, § 14 [establishing the right to felony arraignment “without unnecessary delay”]; County of Riverside v. McLaughlin (1991) 500 U.S. 44 [111 S.Ct. 1661, 114 L.Ed.2d 49].) Defendant asserts in conclusory fashion that the postarrest statements that he made to a Seaside detective at 1:00 p.m. on September 8 (to the effect that he remembered the prior day and had no memory gaps) and Detective Uretsky’s testimony concerning defendant’s actions prior to the “rape kit examination” on September 11 (at which time defendant cleaned his fingernails after being told they would be examined) were produced by the delay and should have been excluded. This claim is forfeited for failure to raise it at arraignment or at trial. (People v. Turner (1994) 8 Cal.4th 137, 176-177 [32 Cal.Rptr.2d 762, 878 P.2d 521].) In any event, the statutory claim is without merit. The two-day limitation of section 825 does not apply to this case, in which arrest was made without a warrant. (§ 849 [governing arraignment in cases of arrest without a warrant]; People v. Bonillas (1989) 48 Cal.3d 757, 787, fn. 11 [257 Cal.Rptr. 895, 771 P.2d 844].) Moreover, as we have observed, “the arraignment requirement of Penal Code section 825 has been interpreted as not applying when [as here] a parole hold on other matters has been placed upon the defendant.” (Ng v. Superior Court (1992) 4 Cal.4th 29, 38 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 856, 840 P.2d 961].) Finally, defendant fails to demonstrate that the delay resulted in his making the September 8 and 11 statements. (People v. Turner, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 176.) Nor does defendant demonstrate that his constitutional claim has merit. “To justify exclusion of a statement, defendant must show that the delay produced admissions or that there was an essential connection between the illegal detention and admissions of guilt.” (People v. Turner, supra, 8 Cal.4th at p. 176.) Such a showing necessarily rests upon the facts of the particular case, but because defendant never raised this issue below, these facts were not developed, and the record that was made does not support defendant’s contention. 2. Suppression motion In the trial court, defendant moved pursuant to section 1538.5 to suppress various items of evidence (e.g., Kool brand cigarette butts that he discarded after speaking with officers, and personal items found in his apartment linking him to burglaries), statements (including his interview with Detective Kennedy), and observations (including those relating to defendant’s sobriety and the wetness of his clothing, etc.) collected on the night of September 7 and on the following days. Defendant asserted that his initial meetings with police officers at approximately 11:45 p.m. on September 7, on the street adjacent to the crime scene, constituted an illegal detention from the time Officer Heredia summoned Detective Kennedy to speak with defendant, and that all fruits of that detention should be suppressed. The trial court disagreed, finding that the encounter between defendant and the officers was consensual and not a detention, and that even if defendant had been detained at the point at which Detective Kennedy was summoned, Officer Heredia had reasonable cause to detain him. The court found it “abundantly clear . . . not only from the testimony of the officer but [also from the] videotape [of Detective Kennedy’s interview with defendant], that [defendant] at no point felt he was either being detained or [was] under arrest. HQ I would have to say in summary, that the police acted as I hope they would act under these kind of circumstances. They were curious and inquisitive, but not in violation of anyone’s Constitutional rights. . . . HD . . . [W]hen [defendant] went to the station, he explained to [Officer] Cox that he completely understood that it’s just a safety precaution that people have to be [hand]cuffed to be transported. HO Under the circumstances, I don’t know how the police could have been more protective of his legal rights and yet still do the job that we all expect them to do . . . .” In reviewing the trial court’s ruling on the suppression motion, we uphold any factual finding, express or implied, that is supported by substantial evidence, but we independently assess, as a matter of law, whether the challenged search or seizure conforms to constitutional standards of reasonableness. (People v. Williams (1988) 45 Cal.3d 1268, 1301 [248 Cal.Rptr. 834, 756 P.2d 221].) “ ‘For purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis, there are basically three different categories or levels of police “contacts” or “interactions” with individuals, ranging from the least to the most intrusive. First, there are . . . “consensual encounters” . . . , which are those police-individual interactions which result in no restraint of an individual’s liberty whatsoever—i.e., no “seizure,” however minimal—and which may properly be initiated by police officers even if they lack any “objective justification.” . . . Second, there are what are commonly termed “detentions,” seizures of an individual which are strictly limited in duration, scope and purpose, and which may be undertaken by the police “if there is an articulable suspicion that a person has committed or is about to commit a crime.” . . . Third, and finally, there are those seizures of an individual which exceed the permissible limits of a detention, seizures which include formal arrests and restraints on an individual’s liberty which are comparable to an arrest, and which are constitutionally permissible only if the police have probable cause to arrest the individual for a crime.’ ” (In re James D. (1987) 43 Cal.3d 903, 911-912 [239 Cal.Rptr. 663, 741 P.2d 161] (James D.).) As the United States Supreme Court explained in Florida v. Royer (1983) 460 U.S. 491 [103 S.Ct. 1319, 75 L.Ed.2d 229]: “[L]aw enforcement officers do not violate the Fourth Amendment by merely approaching, an individual on the street or in another public place, by asking him if he is willing to answer some questions, by putting questions to him if the person is willing to listen, or by offering in evidence in a criminal prosecution his voluntary answers to such questions. [Citations.] Nor would the fact that the officer identifies himself as a police officer, without more, convert the encounter into a seizure requiring some level of objective justification. [Citation.] The person approached, however, need not answer any question put to him; indeed, he may decline to listen to the questions at all and may go on his way. [Citations.] He may not be detained even momentarily without reasonable, objective grounds for doing so; and his refusal to listen or answer does not, without more, furnish those grounds. [Citation.] If there is no detention—no seizure within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment— then no constitutional rights have been infringed.” (Id., at pp. 497-498 [103 S.Ct. at p. 1324] (lead opn.).) Under case law established by the high court, “ ‘ “[A] person has been ‘seized’ within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment only if, in view of all the circumstances surrounding the incident, a reasonable person would have believed that he was not free to leave.” ’ ” (James D., supra, 43 Cal.3d 903, 913, and cases cited, italics omitted.) Here, the initial interaction between defendant and Officer Heredia plainly was a consensual encounter. The apartment building had been cordoned off; police cars were parked outside and the area was being guarded by officers as defendant walked by. Heredia approached defendant, inquired whether he could assist him, and posed basic and preliminary questions to establish whether defendant might possess information concerning the crime. The conversation was nonaccusatory, routine, and brief, and would not have caused a reasonable person to believe that his or her liberty was being restrained. We question defendant’s assertion that Heredia’s act of summoning Detective Kennedy, Kennedy’s subsequent exchange with defendant (including the request that defendant permit the police to test his jacket for blood), and the subsequent trip to the police station, substantially changed the volitional nature of the encounter. The record does not reflect that the officers engaged in conduct that would have made a reasonable person feel compelled to remain or to allow the testing of the jacket. Indeed, the record amply supports the trial court’s factual finding that defendant freely consented to remain for the purpose of speaking with Detective Kennedy, having the jacket tested, and being transported in handcuffs to the police station for further questioning. In any event, even assuming that at some point in this sequence of events defendant was, as he asserts, constructively “arrested” prior to being formally arrested following the interview with Detective Kennedy, there would have been ample basis for such an arrest. Indeed, prior to defendant’s being transported to the police station, there was adequate probable cause to arrest him. The police knew that he (i) lived in the apartment house, (ii) smoked Kool brand cigarettes (like the ones found at the crime scene), (iii) wore wet pants (it appeared that the assailant had washed down the crime scene), (iv) appeared to have blood on his jacket, and (v) made initial statements to Officer Heredia that conflicted with the officer’s own observations. These facts and circumstances reasonably could engender in a reasonable person of ordinary care a strong suspicion that defendant had committed the crime. (People v. Davis (1981) 29 Cal.3d 814, 822-823 [176 Cal.Rptr. 521, 633 P.2d 186].) No Fourth Amendment violation having been established, the trial court properly denied the suppression motion. 3. Trial court’s refusal to disclose police personnel files Defendant filed a motion for discovery, seeking information regarding all “complaints” filed with the Pacific Grove Police Department concerning Detective Kennedy and Officers Heredia and Cox “relating to the fabrication of charges, distortions and exaggerations of alleged facts and/or evidence, or dishonesty, or use of improper tactics.” (See § 832.7 [making such records confidential]; Evid. Code §§ 1043, 1045.) Trial counsel clarified in a declaration that he sought evidence concerning the credibility of the officers, in order to support his theory that defendant was in fact detained by the officers. The prosecution produced the files, and the trial court inspected them in camera but did not disclose any information in them to defendant. Defendant asserts that the trial court erred. The record reflects that the trial court found the vast majority of Officer Cox’s file, which consisted largely of letters of commendation, to be irrelevant to the issue of his credibility. The court noted that there was one charge of use of excessive force that had been filed by a person more than three months after that person had been arrested for driving under the influence, but the court found that complaint to be remote and of questionable relevance to the specific issue of Officer Cox’s credibility, as framed by the defense motion. The trial court found no discoverable material concerning Officer Heredia. A trial court’s ruling on a motion for access to law enforcement personnel records is subject to review for abuse of discretion. (Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, 535 [113 Cal.Rptr. 897, 522 P.2d 305].) Consistent with customary procedure, the records have been made part of the record on appeal but have been sealed, and appellate counsel for defendant have not been permitted to view them. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 33.5(b)(2).) As we have done in similar situations (People v. Samayoa (1997) 15 Cal.4th 795, 827 [64 Cal.Rptr.2d 400, 938 P.2d 2] (Samayoa)), we independently have examined the materials in camera, and conclude that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to disclose the contents of either officer’s personnel files. B. Guilt Phase Issues 1. Evidence admitted over defendant’s objection a. Admission of portions of postarrest videotaped interview Defendant asserted that at the time of the killing, he was intoxicated to an extent that made it impossible for him to intend to commit the crimes. To rebut that claim, the prosecution was permitted to introduce excerpts of the beginning and closing portions of defendant’s videotaped postarrest interview. During those parts of the interview, defendant’s blood-alcohol level was .16 percent and .12 percent, respectively—measurements that coincided with some of the defense expert testimony concerning defendant’s estimated blood-alcohol level at the time of the killing, some 10 to 13 hours earlier. Accordingly, by presenting this evidence, the prosecution sought to demonstrate that, at a .12 to .16 percent blood-alcohol level, defendant conducted himself in a manner that did not reflect substantial impairment of his mental functions. (The jury was instructed to consider this evidence for the limited purpose of determining defendant’s mental and physical state at the time of the interview.) Defendant asserts the court erred in admitting these portions of the videotape, because that evidence did not reflect a “ ‘reasonable representation of that which it is alleged to portray.’ ” (People v. Carpenter (1997) 15 Cal.4th 312, 386 [63 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 935 P.2d 708] (Carpenter).) Defendant claims that the videotape misleadingly failed to show that during part of the interview, defendant was leaning against a wall instead of supporting himself. Defendant also asserts that the videotape was irrelevant and did not assist the jury in its determination of the facts, but instead misled the jury. Assuming for purposes of argument that these claims properly are preserved and have not been waived, the trial court did not err. The evidence was relevant and was “a reasonable representation of that which it is alleged to portray”—defendant’s mental state at certain blood-alcohol levels. As we observed in Carpenter, supra, 15 Cal.4th 312, in order for such a videotape to be admissible, “ ‘ “ ‘the physical conditions which existed at the time the event in question occurred need not be duplicated with precision nor is it required that no change has occurred between the happening of the event and the time the [videotape] is taken.’ ” ’ ” (Id., at p. 386.) In this regard, we note that defense counsel was free to (and indeed, did) question Detective Kennedy concerning whether or not defendant leaned against a wall, and defense counsel argued to the jury that defendant was in fact leaning against a wall during part of the interview. We agree with the People that “any ‘incompleteness’ would go to the weight of the videotape on the issue of [defendant’s] sobriety and not to its admissibility.” b. Testimony concerning defendant’s request for counsel As noted above, Detective Uretsky testified that on September 11, he advised defendant of the need to undergo a “rape kit examination,” and described what such an examination would entail. At some point, Detective Uretsky testified, defendant asked for counsel, and while he (Uretsky) was out of the room arranging for counsel, defendant washed his hands and trimmed his fingernails, removing matter that had been under his nails. On cross-examination, defense counsel explored with Detective Uretsky the sequence of events preceding the hand-cleaning incident, and stressed that defendant had “been in a cell ... or an interview room in the police department since around midnight on the 7th at that point,” and “for somewhere around three and a half days; is that right?” Detective Uretsky replied “yes,” and defense counsel then asked; “And it was sometime around this conversation with him that he was permitted to talk with a lawyer; is that right?” Detective Uretsky replied “yes,” after which the following occurred: Defense counsel: “And insofar as you know, at that time on the 11th was the first time that he had spoken to a lawyer since he had been in custody . . . since around midnight on the 7th going on the 8th; is that right?” Detective Uretsky: “Whether he had actually spoken to a lawyer or requested one?” Defense counsel: “As far as you know was that the first time that he had spoken to a lawyer?” Detective Uretsky: “As far as I know that was the first time.” Outside the presence of the jury, the prosecutor argued that this testimony left the jury with the impression that defendant had not previously been given the opportunity to speak with an attorney, and hence, in order to prevent the jury from speculating that defendant improperly had been denied counsel before that time, the prosecutor sought to introduce evidence that defendant first made his request for counsel immediately after being informed of the rape-kit examination. Defense counsel conceded that he “may have in fact opened the door” on this point, stating that he “had no objection that he could think of’ to the prosecutor’s proposal. The prosecutor thereafter was allowed to elicit testimony to the effect that defendant requested counsel “right after” he had been informed of the rape-kit examination. Defendant now asserts that the prosecutor’s questioning was indeed objectionable, and error. He relies upon Doyle v. Ohio (1976) 426 U.S. 610, 618 [96 S.Ct. 2240, 2244-2245, 49 L.Ed.2d 91] (it is fundamentally unfair, and a deprivation of due process, to promise an arrested person that his silence will not be used against him, and then to breach that promise by using silence to impeach his trial testimony), Wainwright v. Greenfield (1986) 474 U.S. 284, 295 [106 S.Ct. 634, 640, 88 L.Ed.2d 623] (Greenfield) (“evidentiary use of an individual’s exercise of his constitutional rights after the State’s assurance that the invocation of those rights will not be penalized” is impermissible), and our statement in People v. Crandell (1988) 46 Cal.3d 833, 878 [251 Cal.Rptr. 227, 760 P.2d 423] (Crandell) that “comment which penalizes exercise of the right to counsel is also prohibited.” This claim is waived by defense counsel’s failure to object. Moreover, we do not perceive error on these facts. In any event, even assuming error, in light of the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt we conclude, beyond a reasonable doubt, that the verdicts could not have been affected by the prosecutor’s brief reference—made in response to defense counsel’s cross-examination—to defendant’s assertion of his right to counsel. (Crandell at p. 879.) c. Evidence of defendant’s prior criminal conduct Defendant asserts that the trial court erroneously allowed introduction of evidence that credit cards belonging to Shirley B arrett-Sheridan and E.E. McFadden, and stolen from their respective automobiles six months prior to the killing, were found inside a maroon-colored Crown Royal bag in the apartment defendant shared with Bishop. On the first day of trial in this matter, and outside the jury’s presence, defendant pleaded guilty to receiving those items as stolen property. As noted above, a similar Crown Royal bag, containing Hickman’s stolen wallet, credit cards, and checkbook, was found at the beach near defendant’s apartment approximately two weeks after the killing. Thereafter, the prosecutor sought to present evidence of the underlying circumstances of the receiving-stolen-property charges to which defendant had pleaded guilty, on the ground that those facts were relevant to establish that defendant intended in this case to commit, among other things, robbery. (See Evid. Code, § 1101, subd. (b).) Defendant asserted that there was other evidence linking him with the murder, burglary, and robbery of Hickman, and that the proffered evidence should be excluded under Evidence Code section 352. The trial court disagreed with defendant’s assertions that allowing such evidence would unduly prejudice him. The court permitted the evidence to be introduced, .commenting “for the record” that “[gjiven the severity of the offenses that this jury is going to be hearing evidence on—a stabbing murder, wherein it is alleged that the victim was also strangled, sodomized, robbed and burglarized—I really have to question how shocked the jury would be to hear that he might also have some credit cards that belonged to some other people. I think in the relative hierarchy of things in this case, that new bit of information will be inconsequential.” We find that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in making its ruling under Evidence Code section 352 and in concluding implicitly that stolen credit cards in Crown Royal bags are sufficiently distinctive “signature” characteristics to support an inference that the same person committed both the charged and the uncharged acts. (See People v. Ewoldt (1994) 7 Cal.4th 380, 403 [27 Cal.Rptr.2d 646, 867 P.2d 757].) The evidence also was relevant to establish, among other things, that defendant intended to rob Hickman—an element of the charges that the prosecution was required to prove. Moreover, for the reasons stated by the trial court and quoted above, any federal constitutional error or error of state law clearly was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt. In a related argument, defendant asserts that the trial court erred in allowing the prosecutor to question Dr. Pittel on cross-examination concerning his knowledge of defendant’s prison record. Defendant claims that the trial court allowed such evidence under the authority of People v. Powell (1974) 40 Cal.App.3d 107, 155 [115 Cal.Rptr. 109] (Powell) (defendant’s parole status can be used to establish his motive and state of mind in killing a police officer to avoid revocation of his parole), but that Powell should not be extended beyond the context of one who kills a police officer in order to avoid apprehension and return to prison. The trial court initially declined to allow the prosecutor to elicit such evidence, ruling that it was inadmissible under Evidence Code section 352. Thereafter, when the propriety of such information arose again in a different context—impeachment of testimony by Dr. Pittel that defendant had a good work ethic and a “commitment to work”—the trial court allowed such evidence to be admitted. The prosecutor sought to cross-examine Dr. Pittel concerning the extent of his knowledge of defendant’s background, including the nearly four-and-one-half-year prison term that defendant had completed less than a year before the killing. Outside the presence of the jury, the prosecutor argued that Dr. Pittel had an incomplete picture of defendant and that his testimony left the jury with the false impression that defendant had maintained steady employment. When cross-examination resumed, and Dr. Pittel reasserted that defendant had a “relatively consistent. . . work record,” the trial court permitted the prosecutor to ask Dr. Pittel about the time period to which his testimony referred. Dr. Pittel responded that his reference was to the time before defendant moved to California in 1984, and during 1989—approxi-mately eight months prior to the killing, when defendant had worked at the Alpha Beta store. The prosecutor then asked, “[S]o he wasn’t working at all between 1985 and 1989?” Dr. Pittel responded that defendant “was incarcerated for a great deal of that period” and that he assumed that defendant worked in prison. On further questioning, Dr. Pittel testified that defendant had been in California for about one month, and had been unemployed, before being arrested on the charges that led to his incarceration in 1984. We find it unnecessary to consider defendant’s argument that the holding of Powell, supra, 40 Cal.App.3d 107, should not be extended to establish motive or state of mind beyond the context of one who kills a police officer in order to avoid apprehension and return to prison. Even if the trial court had expressly ruled that the evidence could be admitted under the authority of Powell, we agree with the People that the record reflects that the evidence actually was used by the prosecutor for a different and entirely proper purpose. The evidence was used not to establish motive or state of mind, but to impeach Dr. Pittel’s testimony concerning defendant’s work history (and hence to impeach Dr. Pittel’s expert opinion concerning impairment). (See Evid. Code, § 721, subd. (a) [an expert “may be fully cross-examined as to ... (2) the subject to which his or her expert testimony relates, and (3) the matter upon which his or her opinion is based and the reasons for his or her opinion”].) The trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the prosecutor to question Dr. Pittel in this regard. In any event, even were we to assume error, no prejudice appears. The jury repeatedly was instructed that information relied upon by Dr. Pittel to form his opinion was “received only for the purpose of establishing what the basis for his opinion is, and not to prove that those specific facts are true.” d. Defendant’s statement to Officer Cox Officer Cox testified that while defendant was being transported to the police station for questioning, defendant stated that he did not know the victim, and never had been in her apartment. Defendant asserts the introduction of this testimony was error. It was not; false statements by a defendant are admissible to demonstrate consciousness of guilt. (People v. Kimble (1988) 44 Cal.3d 480, 495-496 [244 Cal.Rptr. 148, 749 P.2d 803].) Nor did the trial court abuse its discretion in finding the evidence more probative than prejudicial under Evidence Code section 352. Defendant suggests that because he was on parole at the time of the killing and at the time of his statement to Officer Cox, he may have had a reason independent of any consciousness of guilt for denying that he had been in Hickman’s apartment, or that he knew her—he may have lied to Cox in an effort to avoid parole revocation on the basis of his recent drug use. Perhaps this is so, and defendant was free to argue this theory to the jury; however, contrary to his view, a false denial remains relevant evidence of consciousness of guilt even if there also exists a possible alternate basis for the false denial that would not incriminate defendant as to the charged offenses. e. Introduction of two photographs Defendant objected at trial to the introduction of various crime scene photographs. One photograph, People’s exhibit 12, showed blood in Hickman’s bathroom and included, in the foreground, a teddy bear in the bathtub. Other photographs to which defendant objected were close-up views of Hickman’s body at the crime scene. The trial court excluded one of those photographs as cumulative, but admitted the other, People’s exhibit 24(B). Defendant asserts that the trial court erred prejudicially in allowing the introduction of exhibits 12 and 24(B). The trial court’s exercise of discretion in determining relevance and the admissibility of photographs will not be disturbed on appeal unless their probative value clearly is outweighed by their prejudicial effect. (People v. Crittenden (1994) 9 Cal.4th 83, 133-135 [36 Cal.Rptr.2d 474, 885 P.2d 887], and cases cited (Crittenden).) We have examined the exhibits and, although they are unpleasant to view, we cannot agree that the trial court abused its discretion in admitting them. Regarding People’s exhibit 12, the trial court recognized that some jurors might be “curious” about why a teddy bear was in the victim’s bathtub, but it also doubted that the jurors’ “anxieties or passions would be inflamed by seeing” the bear next to blood spots. We agree with the People that the prosecution was entitled to “show visually the extent, the location, and the form of the blood found in Hickman’s apartment, which was relevant to malice (intent to kill) and premeditation and deliberation . . . and was not obligated to present its case in a sterilized fashion.” Even assuming, however, that this photograph should have been excluded as cumulative (as defendant observes, People’s exhibit 7(1), admitted without objection, showed the same scene—including the teddy bear—from a different and less dramatic view), we discern no prejudice to defendant, in light of the other properly admitted photographs and the overwhelming evidence of defendant’s guilt. People’s exhibit 24(B) showed a close-up view of Hickman’s body, propped against a wall with suspenders wrapped around her neck and underwear rolled down to her knees. It also depicted wipe marks on her body, a damp paper towel on her neck, a blood-soaked cigarette, and a sponge. The trial court found that the photograph had “substantial probative value” in a number of respects—for example, the damp paper towel seemed to demonstrate that the killer had “enough presence of mind to . . . use it in a clean up process”; the “blood on the bottom of the victim’s feet mean[s] at least to a casual observer that this victim must have stood in her own blood before [she was] placed in the position that she was finally found in”; and finally, “there is the . . . position of the body as it relates to the allegation of the sodomy charge.” Defendant asserts that each of these points was adequately demonstrated by other photos and testimony, and that People’s exhibit 24(B) was unnecessarily gruesome and cumulative. We are unconvinced; the other photographs show only a portion of what is shown in full by People’s exhibit 24(B). The challenged exhibit was relevant to defendant’s criminal intent with regard to the murder and forcible sodomy charges, and it corroborated the testimony concerning the manner and location of the killing and the extent of the victim’s wounds. (See People v. Allen (1986) 42 Cal.3d 1222, 1256 [232 Cal.Rptr. 849, 729 P.2d 115] (Allen).) Because the trial court reasonably could determine that the probative value of People’s exhibit 24(B) outweighed its prejudicial effect, the court did not abuse its discretion under Evidence Code section 352 by admitting the photograph into evidence. 2. Evidence excluded over objection (habit evidence) Defendant attempted to cast doubt upon the prosecution’s theory that he entered Hickman’s apartment with the felonious intent required for first degree felony murder, and for burglary, robbery and the corresponding special circumstances, by offering testimony that on occasions when Hickman cleaned her apartment, she would leave open the top half of the Dutch door to the apartment. Defendant asserts that the trial court improperly sustained the prosecutor’s objection to this proffered testimony of two defense witnesses. Defendant’s theory apparently is that, if the apartment door had been left “open,” this circumstance would suggest the absence of the requisite felonious intent, because a partially open door may have been a “sign of welcome” that constitutes “a partial relinquishment of privacy.” Defendant further speculates that the jury reasonably might have concluded that defendant “viewed [a partially open door] as an invitation to come in” and “to talk or continue a conversation.” It may be questioned whether the proffered evidence was legally relevant. Assuming relevance, Evidence Code section 1105 would permit the admission of evidence of habit or custom “to prove conduct on a specified occasion in conformity with the habit or custom,” but as we have observed, the determination of the admissibility of such evidence rests in the sound discretion of the trial court. (People v. McPeters (1992) 2 Cal