Full opinion text
Opinion KENNARD, J. A jury convicted defendant Stephen Allen Champion of two counts of murder (Pen. Code, § 187), two counts of robbery (§ 211) and one count of burglary (§ 459), finding that he was armed with a firearm in the course of each offense (§ 12022, subd. (a)). On the two counts of murder, the jury found the existence of these special circumstances: robbery murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i)), burglary murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(vii)), and multiple murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)). The same jury also convicted defendant Craig Anthony Ross of three counts of murder (§ 187), five counts of robbery (§211), two counts of burglary (§ 459) and one count of rape in concert (§§ 261, former subd. (2), 264.1), finding that he was armed with a firearm in the course of each offense (§ 12022, subd. (a)). On the three counts of murder, the jury found these special circumstances: robbery murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(i)), burglary murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(vii)), and multiple murder (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3)). In addition, on one of the counts of murder, the jury found a rape-murder special circumstance (§ 190.2, subd. (a)(17)(iii)). At the penalty phase, the jury returned verdicts of death as to both defendants. Defendants’ appeals to this court are automatic. (§ 1239, subd. (b).) Although we conclude that certain duplicative special-circumstance findings must be stricken, we affirm both judgments in all other respects. I. Facts A. Facts Relating to Guilt 1. Murders of Bobby Hassan and His Son, Eric On the morning of December 12, 1980, Mercie Hassan left her home at 849 West 126th Street, Los Angeles, to go to work. Residing with her were her husband, Bobby Hassan (an unemployed carpenter who sold marijuana and sometimes cocaine), and their four children. Mercie spoke to Bobby on the telephone between 11 and 11:30 that morning. Bobby normally picked up their 14-year-old son, Eric, from school at noon and brought him home for lunch. Sometime around noon, Elizabeth Moncrief, a nurse working for an elderly woman across the street from the Hassan residence, saw Bobby and Eric return home. Half an hour later, she saw a large gold or cream-colored Cadillac containing 4 Black males, ages 19-25, parked in front of the Hassan home. Moncrief went outside and took a close look at the car. About five minutes later, she saw two of the men get out of the car and knock at the Hassans’ door. There was a struggle at the door, and the two men entered. The other two men then got out of the car and entered the house, and someone closed the curtains in the Hassan residence. Later, Moncrief saw all four men leave the house. One was holding a pink pillowcase with something in it; the others were carrying paper bags containing unknown items. Moncrief was able to get a particularly good look at the last man who left the house, a tall man with heavy lips, a scar on his face, and either a chipped tooth or a gap between his teeth. She paid closer attention to this man because she had seen him once in Helen Keller Park, which was just across the street. Mercie Hassan returned home about 3:30 p.m. The house had been ransacked. Part of the lunch she had prepared for Bobby and Eric was on the floor, along with wrapping paper from the children’s Christmas presents. Several of the presents were missing, as were some colored pillowcases and a .357-caliber Ruger Security Six revolver. Police, called to the scene, found the bodies of Bobby and Eric Hassan in the bedroom, lying on the bed. Each had been shot once in the head. Bobby’s hands were tied behind his back, and three rings and a necklace he customarily wore were missing. Defendant Champion was arrested on January 9, 1981. When arrested, he was wearing a yellow metal ring with white stones and a gold chain necklace that contained a charm bearing half of a king-of-hearts playing card. Mercie Hassan identified the ring and charm as belonging to her husband, Bobby. Latent fingerprints lifted from the Christmas wrapping paper and from a white cardboard box matched defendant Ross’s fingerprints. A month after the robbery, Moncrief selected defendant Champion’s picture from a photographic lineup, saying he could have been one of the men she had seen at the Hassan house. Three days later she positively identified Champion at a physical lineup at the Los Angeles County jail. She also positively identified him at trial as the fourth man she saw leaving the Hassan home. In addition, she identified a photograph of a brown Buick automobile linked to defendants (see pt. I.A.2., post) as being the car she had seen in front of the Hassan home. Earlier, at a wrecking yard to which the police had taken her, Moncrief recognized the Buick as the car in question because of a distinctive dent on its right front. On cross-examination, Moncrief acknowledged that at an early stage in the murder investigation she had identified two other men, Benjamin Brown and Clarence Reed, as the men she saw visit the Hassan home, and she had identified their car, a Chrysler, as the one she had seen in front of the Hassan home. Reed and Brown had become suspects in the police investigation because: (1) both were involved in an attempted robbery elsewhere in Los Angeles the day after the Hassan murders, during which Reed was killed; (2) Mercie Hassan identified Brown as a person who had been to her house to buy marijuana from her husband; and (3) Mercie Hassan told police that on several occasions she had answered telephone calls from a person named “Clarence” who wanted to buy drugs. To show that Reed and Brown did not commit the murders, the prosecution called Brown, who testified that he had spent the day at home, and Reed’s employer, who produced a “time card” (on the back of a cigarette carton) showing that Reed was at work in a grocery/liquor store at the time of the murder. A ballistics expert testified that Bobby Hassan was killed by a .357-caliber bullet with rifling characteristics; the latter are produced by the gun that fired the bullet, and were described by the expert as “six lands and grooves with a left hand twist.” The expert also testified that most Colt revolvers produce these particular characteristics. The prosecution produced photographs, found in defendant Champion’s home, showing each defendant holding a Colt revolver. But Benjamin Brown, when arrested for the attempted robbery that resulted in the death of Clarence Reed, was found in possession of a gun that produced the same rifling characteristics. A jury found defendants Champion and Ross guilty of burglarizing the Hassan home and of robbing and killing Bobby and Eric Hassan. 2. The Murder of Michael Taylor During the evening of December 27, 1980, three men came to the door of Cora Taylor’s apartment at 11810½ Vermont Avenue, not far from the Hassan home. Residing with Cora were her son Michael (who sold marijuana) and her daughter Mary. The men, one of whom Cora identified at trial as defendant Ross, walked into the living room and asked to speak to Michael. When Michael and Mary came out of the next room, accompanied by William Birdsong, a friend who was visiting, one of the men, whom Cora and Mary later identified as Evan Malett, grabbed Birdsong. A struggle ensued, which ended when Malett drew a gun and ordered Cora, Mary, Michael, and Birdsong to sit on the bed. Malett then demanded money and drugs. When Mary said they did not have any, one of the three men hit her in the jaw with his fist. The men then ordered the Taylors and Birdsong to lie face down on the bed, opened Cora’s purse, and ransacked the premises. While the three robbers were rummaging through the apartment, a fourth man (apparently a lookout) came to the door but did not enter. At Cora’s urging, Michael told the robbers that there was money in a box in the kitchen. At that point one of the men, whom Mary later identified as defendant Ross, grabbed Mary by the hair and forced her to go into the bathroom, where he raped her. He then left the bathroom, returning moments later to rape Mary again. Thereafter, Malett entered the bathroom and unsuccessfully tried to rape Mary. The three men then ordered Birdsong and Cora to join Mary in the bathroom. A short time later, Cora and Mary heard a shot. After a few minutes, they left the bathroom and found Michael in the living room, dead. A prosecution expert testified that Michael had died from a single shot from a high-powered weapon (such as a .357 magnum), fired at close range. The agent also testified that the gun used to kill Bobby Hassan could not have been the murder weapon, but that the bullet could have been fired by the .357-caliber Ruger stolen from the Hassan home. Missing from the Taylor’s apartment was an eight-track tape player. Also missing was a Christmas present—a photo album—which had been taken out of its wrapping. Later that night, shortly after midnight, Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Ted Naimy saw a brown Buick automobile that contained four Black males and did not have its headlights turned on in the neighborhood where Michael Taylor had been murdered. As the Buick pulled alongside of him, Deputy Naimy and his partner ordered it to stop. Instead, the car sped away. As the deputies pursued the Buick, it went out of control, struck a curb, and came to a halt. Its four occupants jumped out of the car and ran. Inside the car, the deputy found the eight-track tape player stolen from the Taylor apartment and the .357-caliber Ruger revolver stolen from the Hassan home. The gun contained two live rounds and an empty shell casing, and smelled as if it had recently been fired. Under the car, Deputy Naimy found the photograph album stolen from the Taylors. Police searched the neighborhood for the occupants of the Buick. They found Evan Malett hiding in a backyard of a nearby house, in which defendant Champion was living. Natasha Wright, the Taylors’ next-door neighbor, identified defendant Ross at trial as one of the men she saw arrive at the Taylors’ apartment. Prosecution experts testified that two latent fingerprints lifted from the bathtub in the Taylors’ apartment belonged to Ross, and that spermatozoa found on Mary’s pants were consistent with Ross’s blood type, which is shared by roughly 11 percent of the population. The jury convicted defendant Ross of burglarizing the Taylor residence; of robbing Cora, Michael, and Mary Taylor; of raping Mary; and of murdering Michael. Although Cora Taylor identified defendant Champion as one of the robbers, and Mary Taylor testified that Champion was similar in appearance to one of the robbers, Champion was neither charged with nor convicted of any of the crimes committed at the Taylor apartment. (Apparently, no one had identified defendant Champion as a participant in the robbery before trial.) 3. Other Prosecution Evidence at the Guilt Phase At the guilt phase of the trial, the prosecution also presented evidence of the murder of Teheran Jefferson. The relevant facts relating to Jefferson’s death will be discussed in part II.F. The prosecution also offered expert testimony that both defendants were members of the Raymond Avenue Crips, a gang whose territory encompassed the houses where the murders occurred; that defendant Ross’s nickname in the gang was “Little Evil” or “Evil”; and that defendant Champion’s gang nickname was “Trecherous,” “Trech,” or “Mr. Trech,” all standing for treacherous. This testimony will be discussed in part II.G. In addition, the prosecution introduced a tape recording of a conversation between defendants that took place in a bus transporting them from jail to court. The contents of the tape recording will be discussed in part II.A. 4. Defense Evidence at the Guilt Phase Defendant Champion, who was charged only with the burglary of the Hassan residence and with the robbery and murder of Bobby and Eric Hassan, presented an alibi defense. He testified that on the morning of the murders he and his brothers, Reginald and Louis, picked up his paycheck from Prompt Service, a “temporary personnel” agency that had employed him. He then went home, where he spent the afternoon. His brother Reginald corroborated his account, as did his mother. According to defendant Champion, the ring and charm that he was wearing when arrested and that Mercie Hassan identified as belonging to her murdered husband, Bobby Hassan, had been given to him eight months earlier by one Raymond Winbush, who was killed two weeks after giving him the jewelry. Champion’s sister, Rita, testified that she had seen Champion wearing the ring four years before the murders, and the charm a month or two before the murders. The ring and the charm were both mass-produced items (with a combined retail value of roughly $400), and the defense argued that Mercie Hassan had mistakenly identified them as belonging to her murdered husband. Defendant Ross offered no evidence at the guilt phase. B. Evidence at the Penalty Phase At the penalty phase of the trial, the prosecution presented the following evidence of violent criminal conduct involving defendants Champion and Ross. 1. Robbery at the West Covina Bus Station On November 6, 1977, Vincent Verkuilen, Jerry Stanger, and Laura Surgot were standing at the Greyhound Bus Depot in West Covina when eight young men approached them. Two of the youths drew handguns, and one of them demanded Verkuilen’s wallet and his watch, while others in the group attempted to take belongings from Stanger and Surgot. When police officers arrived at the scene, the youths ran away; as they did so, the two gunmen fired shots. Verkuilen identified defendant Champion as one of the robbers. Based on this incident, a petition was filed in juvenile court charging defendant Champion with grand theft, attempted robbery, and robbery. The trial court found the petition to be true, and ordered Champion removed from his home and placed in a “camp community placement” program. 2. Robbery of Jose Bustos Court Reporter Buelah Pugh read to the jury in this case the juvenile court testimony of Jose Bustos: On September 27, 1978, Bustos and his wife were in a park, listening to a radio. They were approached by five youths, including defendant Champion. One of the boys took the radio, and when Bustos tried to retrieve it, the other four attacked him. Champion kicked him, hit him on the head with a bottle, and cut his finger with a switchblade knife. Court Reporter Pugh testified that she had worked in juvenile court for eight years; that a minor in a juvenile proceeding is analogous to a defendant in an adult proceeding; that the referee who hears juvenile proceedings is, “for all intents and purposes, a judge at that hearing;” and that “a finding of true is the equivalent in juvenile court of a finding of guilty in an adult court.” 3. Assault on Mark Howard On July 29, 1977, Mark Howard, a gang member, was in Helen Keller Park when Walter Gregory approached and said that defendant Ross wanted to talk to him. Howard walked to another part of the park and spoke to Ross, who was with a group of people. Ross demanded that Howard return a radio that Howard had taken from Gregory. Howard said he took the radio because Gregory owed him money. When Howard refused to return the radio, Ross produced a revolver, and said that if Howard did not return the radio he would blow Howard’s head off. Howard then slapped Ross, whereupon Ross shot Howard six times in the stomach and the chest. Howard recovered, but a bullet remains lodged close to his spine, and his ability to use his left leg is seriously impaired. As a result of this incident, defendant Ross entered a plea of guilty to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon, and was sentenced to three years in prison. 4. Defense Evidence Thomas Crawford, who was defendant Champion’s California Youth Authority parole agent, testified that Champion was cooperative and maintained satisfactory contact in the three months between his release and the time he was arrested for the murders in this case. Champion’s mother testified that on the day he was arrested for the murders, he was scheduled to start work as a tutor at Gompers Junior High School. Defendant Ross offered no evidence at the penalty phase. The parties stipulated that he was bom on February 1, 1959; thus, he was 21 years old at the time of the murders. At defendants’ request, the trial court took judicial notice that Evan Malett was convicted of first degree murder and seven other felonies based on his role in the murder of Michael Taylor and the robberies and rapes at the Taylor residence, and that he was sentenced to a prison term of 46 years to life. II. Guilt Phase Issues A. Severance Over defendant Champion’s objection, the trial court granted the prosecution’s motion to join defendants’ cases for trial. Although the Legislature has “expressed a preference for joint trials” (People v. Boyde (1988) 46 Cal.3d 212, 231 [250 Cal.Rptr. 83, 758 P.2d 25]; see § 1098), the trial court may, in its discretion, grant separate trials: “The court should separate the trial of codefendants ‘in the face of an incriminating confession, prejudicial association with codefendants, likely confusion resulting from evidence on multiple counts, conflicting defenses, or the possibility that at a separate trial a codefendant would give exonerating testimony.’ ” (People v. Turner (1984) 37 Cal.3d 302, 312 [208 Cal.Rptr. 196, 690 P.2d 669], quoting People v. Massie (1967) 66 Cal.2d 899, 917 [59 Cal.Rptr. 733, 428 P.2d 869], fns. omitted; People v. Cummings (1993) 4 Cal.4th 1233, 1286 [18 Cal.Rptr.2d 796, 850 P.2d 1]; People v. Hardy (1992) 2 Cal.4th 86, 167 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 796, 825 P.2d 781].) Champion complains that joinder was likely to lead to “prejudicial association” with codefendant Ross. {Ibid.) He contends that the evidence of defendant Ross’s guilt was strong, whereas the evidence of his own guilt was weak, and that the jury was therefore likely to convict him because he was an associate of Ross. We disagree. The evidence against defendant Champion was far from weak: An eyewitness identified him as one of the four men that entered the Hassan residence, and when arrested he was wearing a ring and a charm that Mercie Hassan identified as belonging to her husband Bobby Hassan, one of the murder victims. The trial court could reasonably conclude that the jury would be unlikely to convict defendant Champion simply because of his association with defendant Ross. Defendant Champion points out that if the court had not joined his case with that of codefendant Ross, the jury trying him would not have heard evidence of Michael Taylor’s murder, which only Ross was charged with committing. This evidence, Champion argues, was highly prejudicial, because Cora Taylor identified him as one of the men who killed Michael Taylor. Although this evidence may well have hurt Champion at trial, this does not mean that the trial court erred in joining the cases for trial. The prosecution’s motion for joinder and Champion’s motion for severance were, of course, made before trial. At that time, no eyewitness had identified defendant Champion as one of Taylor’s killers; it was only at the trial itself that Cora Taylor unexpectedly identified him. Thus, at the time the trial court made its ruling, it could reasonably conclude that the evidence of Taylor’s murder would not adversely affect Champion at trial. Moreover, the jury could properly consider the evidence that defendant Champion was involved in the murder of Michael Taylor in deciding whether he participated in the murders of Bobby and Eric Hassan, because the killings shared various significant characteristics. The murders occurred in the same neighborhood, 15 days apart. Both involved four perpetrators and the same getaway car; when police seized that car on the night Michael Taylor was killed, they found in it items stolen from both the Hassan and the Taylor homes. In both cases, the victims included drug dealers (Bobby Hassan and Michael Taylor) who were robbed in their homes, ordered to lie on their beds, and shot in the back of the head at close range. These common features of the two killings are sufficiently distinctive to support an inference that both crimes were committed by the same persons. (See People v. Miller (1990) 50 Cal.3d 954, 987-989 [269 Cal.Rptr. 492, 790 P.2d 1289].) In addition, on the night Taylor was murdered, police saw a brown Buick automobile, containing four men, driving without its headlights in the neighborhood where the slaying occurred. When shortly thereafter the car crashed (see ante, p. 901), the police found inside the car not only items stolen from the Taylor apartment, but also the gun stolen from the Hassan residence. Because the car contained items stolen during the commission of the Hassan and Taylor killings, the jury could reasonably infer that the same four men who had fled from the Buick had also participated in the murders. We thus conclude that evidence of the Taylor murder was admissible against defendant Champion. Accordingly, the court’s refusal to sever defendant Champion’s case from that of defendant Ross did not prejudice Champion. (See People v. Hardy, supra, 2 Cal.4th 86, 170.) Defendant Ross too complains of prejudice as a result of the trial court’s failure to sever his case from defendant Champion’s. But Ross never asked the trial court to sever the cases, did not oppose the prosecutor’s motion for consolidation, and never gave the trial court any explanation as to why joinder would prejudice him. Although the parties agreed at trial that defendant Ross would be deemed to have joined in defendant Champion’s pretrial motions, which presumably included the severance motion, defendant Champion’s severance motion explained only why joinder would harm him; it did not assert that joinder would also be prejudicial to defendant Ross. Accordingly, defendant Ross may not now raise this issue. (People v. Saunders (1993) 5 Cal.4th 580, 588 [20 Cal.Rptr.2d 638, 853 P.2d 1093].) B. Jury Cross-section The trial court excused 14 potential jurors after they said that their employers would not pay them throughout the anticipated length of the trial. The court did not ask these potential jurors, and they did not explicitly state, that for them jury service would be a “hardship.” Both defendants argue that because the 14 prospective jurors did not say explicitly that jury service would be a “hardship,” the trial court lacked sufficient information to discharge them. Defendants rely on former Code of Civil Procedure section 200, which at the time of defendants’ trial permitted a trial court to excuse potential jurors “upon finding that the jury service would entail undue hardship . . . .” Defendants also assert that because the 14 discharged prospective jurors were all wage earners, the trial court systematically excluded a distinct .class of jurors (wage earners), thereby violating their constitutionally guaranteed right to a fair and impartial jury drawn from a representative cross-section of the community. (People v. Wheeler (1978) 22 Cal.3d 258, 266 [148 Cal.Rptr. 890, 583 P.2d 748].) Neither defendant, however, objected to the trial court’s removal of any of the 14 prospective jurors, and neither complained that the court had systematically excluded wage earners from the jury. Defendants thus have not preserved this issue for appeal. (People v. Mickey (1991) 54 Cal.3d 612, 664-665 [286 Cal.Rptr. 801, 818 P.2d 84].) C. “Death Qualification” of Jury Both defendants challenge the method used in the trial court to question potential jurors regarding their attitudes toward the death penalty, and the manner in which the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges in response to those questions. Defendants first complain that it was improper for the prosecutor to exercise peremptory challenges to remove all prospective jurors who expressed reservations regarding the imposition of the death penalty. Assuming for the sake of argument that the prosecutor exercised peremptory challenges for this reason, we have held on numerous occasions that the prosecution may do so. (E.g., People v. Danielson (1992) 3 Cal.4th 691, 714 [13 Cal.Rptr.2d 1, 838 P.2d 729]; People v. Pinholster (1992) 1 Cal.4th 865, 912 [4 Cal.Rptr.2d 765, 824 P.2d 571]; People v. Turner, supra, 37 Cal.3d at p. 315.) We see no need to reexamine our holdings in these cases. Next, defendants argue that the trial court should have granted defendant Champion’s motion to limit the scope of the parties’ questions on voir dire. The motion urged that prospective jurors be asked only four questions on voir dire, and that they be directed to give only “yes or no” answers. Assuming for the sake of argument that defendants have preserved their right to raise the issue, we find no error. “[T]he scope of the inquiry permitted during voir dire is committed to the discretion of the court.” (People v. Visciotti (1992) 2 Cal.4th 1, 48 [5 Cal.Rptr.2d 495, 825 P.2d 388].) The trial court was under no duty to limit the prospective jurors to “yes or no” answers, or to limit voir dire in the manner suggested by defendant Champion. Both defendants also complain about the trial court’s questioning of. prospective jurors during the “death qualification” process. The court asked the jurors whether their views on the death penalty would prevent them from imposing a sentence of death, but the court did not ask the converse question: whether those views would lead them to impose the death penalty “automatically.” The court’s questions, defendants argue, “had the effect of focusing voir dire on one end of the spectrum,” and implied that “the judge was only concerned in eliminating ‘pro-life’ bias,” but not with excusing potential jurors who had a “pro-death” bias. Therefore, defendants assert, the trial court’s questions indoctrinated the jury in favor of imposing the death penalty. A prospective juror may be excused for cause if the juror’s views on capital punishment “would ‘prevent or substantially impair the performance of his duties as a juror in accordance with his instructions and his oath.’ ” (Wainwright v. Witt (1985) 469 U.S. 412, 424 [83 L.Ed.2d 841, 851-852,105 S.Ct. 844], fn. omitted.) This is true whether the juror is predisposed to vote for or against the death penalty. (Morgan v. Illinois (1992) 504 U.S. 719, 726-728 [119 L.Ed.2d 492, 501-502, 112 S.Ct. 2222, 2229].) We agree with defendants that trial courts should be evenhanded in their questions to prospective jurors during the “death-qualification” portion of the voir dire, and should inquire into the jurors’ attitudes both for and against the death penalty to determine whether these views will impair their ability to serve as jurors. But we reject defendants’ contention that in this case the trial court’s questions predisposed the jury in favor of imposing the death penalty. The court did not prevent defense counsel from asking prospective jurors whether their views in favor of the death penalty would substantially impair the performance of their duties, and defendants do not contend that the court erroneously refused to excuse any such jurors for cause. The trial court’s questions caused no prejudice, and therefore do not warrant reversal of defendants’ convictions. D. Tape-recorded Conversation On August 20,1981, the prosecutor requested the trial court to issue an ex parte order that both defendants be transported from jail to court together, but separate from other inmates, and that their conversations be tape recorded. The prosecutor asserted that if defendants were transported under these conditions, “it is likely that they will discuss with each other their mutual involvement in the crimes charged herein.” After obtaining authorization from the trial court, the police tape recorded defendants’ conversations in the van transporting them to and from the court. At trial, the prosecution played the tape recording to the jury, over the objection of both defendants. In the two tape-recorded conversations, which contained numerous profanities, defendants fantasized about taking a “stroll” out of the jail and about “blow[ing] up” the driver of the transport van and escaping. They spoke in derogatory terms of a man named Ishimoto, apparently a guard at the jail, calling him a “little Jap,” a “Buddha head motherfucker," and a “little bastard Buddha head." Their conversations also included the following interchange, in which they talked about Bobby Hassan, Jr., the son of victim Bobby Hassan and a “junior member” of defendants’ gang, the Raymond Avenue Crips. (See pt. II.G., post.) According to the prosecution, in this interchange defendants discussed whether Bobby Hassan, Jr., had told the police about defendants’ participation in the murder of his father and brother, and discussed whether the bed on which victims Bobby and Eric Hassan were lying when they were shot was a waterbed: C: “Man, shit. I saw that mother fucker Bobby Hassan. R: “Bobby Hassan what you mean? C: “His father—the one that got killed. R: “A picture? C: “No, I saw him. He’s in the courtroom. R: “What you mean? He’s dead. C: “No (inaudible)(laughs) the other (inaudible). R: “Oh, the Raymond Crip. C: “Yeah. C: “He always be at all the courts, Cuz. R: “Yeah? C: “(Laughs) Him and his mother... his other brother and shit. I look at him raw—the mother fucker (laughs). R: “He’s in court (inaudible)? C: “Yeah, he be at all my courts. I look at him raw, the mother fucker (laughs). I was sleepy and just woke up. . . . R: “He ain’t never said nothing? C: “No, he’s a punk ass. R: “They supposed to be witnesses? C: “No, they just come to see what’s happening with me. (Laughs) See if I’m going to get convicted and shit. R: “(Inaudible) C: “(Inaudible) R: “Was that a waterbed in that room? C: “Uh-uh.” Both defendants raise a variety of theories in contending that the trial court erred in admitting the taped conversations. Defendants claim that, by recording their conversations, the prosecution violated their rights to remain silent and to counsel, as guaranteed by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Defendants rely primarily on Massiah v. United States (1954) ill U.S. 201 [12 L.Ed.2d 246, 84 S.Ct. 1199], and United States v. Henry (1980) 447 U.S. 264 [65 L.Ed.2d 115, 100 S.Ct. 2183]. In each of those cases, the prosecution used an informant, acting as a police agent, to obtain incriminating information from a criminal defendant who was awaiting trial, without notifying the attorney appointed to represent the defendant. In each case, the United States Supreme Court held that the procedure violated the defendant’s right to counsel. But in United States v. Henry, supra, 447 U.S. 264, the high court pointed out that an informant who questions a criminal defendant is unlike “an inanimate electronic device,” which “has no capability of leading the conversation into any particular subject or prompting any particular replies.” (Id. at p. 271, fn. 9 [65 L.Ed.2d at p. 123]; see also id. at p. 276 [65 L.Ed.2d at pp. 125-126] (conc. opn. of Powell, J.).) Here, defendants’ argument that the prosecution’s tape recording of their conversation violated their Sixth Amendment rights is further undermined by Kuhlmann v. Wilson (1986) 477 U.S. 436 [91 L.Ed.2d 364, 106 S.Ct. 2616], which the United States Supreme Court decided after United States v. Henry. In that case, the high court explained that “the primary concern of the Massiah line of decisions is secret interrogation by investigatory techniques that are the equivalent of direct police interrogation. . . . [T]he defendant must demonstrate that the police and their informant took some action, beyond merely listening, that was designed deliberately to elicit incriminating remarks.” (Kuhlmann v. Wilson, supra, All U.S. at p. 459 [91 L.Ed.2d at pp. 384-385].) Here, the prosecution listened to defendants’ tape-recorded conversations, but did not question them; thus, it did not engage in “secret interrogation” by any techniques that were “the equivalent of direct police interrogation.” (Kuhlmann v. Wilson, supra, All U.S. at p. 459 [91 L.Ed.2d at pp. 384-285].) Accordingly, the prosecution did not violate defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel. (People v. Lucero (1987) 190 Cal.App.3d 1065, 1068-1069 [235 Cal.Rptr. 751].) Defendants next argue that by recording their conversations the prosecution violated sections 2600 and 2601, which protect the privacy rights of prisoners. Defendants rely on De Lancie v. Superior Court, supra, 31 Cal.3d at pages 867-868, in which we held that sections 2600 and 2601 prohibit police from monitoring the conversations of pretrial detainees when the sole purpose of the monitoring is to gather evidence to use against them at trial. Here, the monitoring preceded our decision in De Lancie, and we have held that De Lancie is not retroactive and does not require the exclusion of evidence obtained before the filing of our decision in De Lancie. (Donaldson v. Superior Court (1983) 35 Cal.3d 24, 39 [196 Cal.Rptr. 704, 672 P.2d 110].) Accordingly the trial court properly refused to exclude the tape recording on this ground. (People v. Gallego (1990) 52 Cal.3d 115, 169-170 [276 Cal.Rptr. 679, 802 P.2d 169]; People v. Carrera (1989) 49 Cal.3d 291, 326-328 [261 Cal.Rptr. 348, 111 P.2d 121].) Defendants maintain that this case is distinguishable from Donaldson v. Superior Court, supra, 35 Cal.3d 24, because here the taped conversations occurred in a vehicle, while the conversation in Donaldson took place at the jail itself. They contend that they had a greater expectation of privacy in the van transporting them to court than they did at the jail, and thus, they assert, the trial court’s order permitting the prosecutor to monitor their conversations in the van violated not only sections 2600 and 2601, but also their “reasonable and fundamental constitutional right to privacy.” Not so. In People v. Crowson (1983) 33 Cal.3d 623, 629 [190 Cal.Rptr. 165, 660 P.2d 389], we held that two suspects who had been arrested and were confined in the back of a police car had no reasonable expectation of privacy, and therefore their tape-recorded conversation was admissible at trial. Defendants in this case had no greater expectation of privacy than the suspects in Crowson. Defendants also contend that the trial court’s order permitting law enforcement authorities to record their conversations was impermissible because it was a form of prosecutorial discovery, which, at the time of defendants’ trial, was severely limited by several decisions of this court. (People v. Collie (1981) 30 Cal.3d 43 [177 Cal.Rptr. 458, 634 P.2d 534]; Prudhomme v. Superior Court (1970) 2 Cal.3d 320, 326 [85 Cal.Rptr. 129, 466 P.2d 673].) We disagree. This court’s limits on prosecutorial discovery were based on the premise that a court order requiring defense counsel to disclose information counsel had gathered on behalf of the defendant was a form of “compelled disclosure” that violated the defendant’s privilege against self-incrimination. (People v. Collie, supra, 30 Cal.3d at p. 50.) In this case, the trial court’s order permitting the prosecution to record defendants’ conversation lacked any aspects of compulsion. Like a search warrant, the order merely permitted the prosecution to engage in evidence-gathering activities that were permissible at the time the court issued the order. Defendants maintain that even if no constitutional violations occurred, the trial court should have excluded the tape-recorded conversations because the prejudicial effect of the conversations substantially outweighed their probative value. (Evid. Code, § 352.) They contend that because the portion of the conversation immediately preceding their discussion of the waterbed was inaudible (ante, p. 910), the prosecution’s assertion that they were discussing the bed in the Hassan home was highly speculative and thus of minimal probative value. They assert that their discussion of an escape was “nothing more than two young men’s boyish fantasizing” and consequently had little probative value. By contrast, they argue, the taped conversations contained highly prejudicial material: numerous obscenities, gang lingo, racial slurs, and “general ‘tough’ talk." Defendants argued at trial that the tape-recorded conversations were irrelevant, but they never asked the court to weigh the conversations’ probative value and prejudicial effect; they thus failed to preserve the issue for appeal. (See People v. Kirkpatrick (1994) 7 Cal.4th 988, 1014-1015 [30 Cal.Rptr.2d 818, 874 P.2d 248].) Even if defendants had adequately challenged the admissibility of the conversations under Evidence Code section 352, we would find no error. Evidence Code section 352 gives the trial court broad discretion when weighing the probative value and prejudicial effect of proffered evidence. Here, the portion of defendants’ tape-recorded conversations in which they made reference to the waterbed was immediately preceded by a lengthy discussion of Bobby Hassan, Jr., the son of victim Bobby Hassan. Thus, the trial court could reasonably conclude that the waterbed defendants mentioned was in the Hassan home. Moreover, in that same discussion, defendant Ross asked defendant Champion: “He [Bobby Hassan, Jr.] ain’t never said nothing?” Defendant Champion responded: “No, he’s a punk ass.” The court could reasonably infer from this interchange that both defendants believed that Bobby Hassan, Jr., knew of their participation in the murders, that defendant Ross was asking whether Hassan had spoken to law enforcement authorities about the crimes, and that defendant Champion was explaining that Hassan had not done so. Finally, the trial court could reasonably determine that when they discussed the possibility of escape, the defendants showed a consciousness of guilt. The court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that these portions of the tape recording were sufficiently probative to render the tape recording admissible. Defendants fault the trial court for not deleting from the tape recording those portions of defendants’ conversation that were irrelevant and prejudicial. But defendants never asked the trial court to edit the tape recording, and never notified the court that, in their view, portions of the tape recording were particularly prejudicial. Accordingly, they have not preserved this issue for appeal. (Evid. Code, § 353, subd. (a); People v. Wader (1993) 5 Cal.4th 610, 635 [20 Cal.Rptr.2d 788, 854 P.2d 80].) Finally, defendants cursorily argue that the admission of this “extremely inflammatory” evidence was error of constitutional dimension, because the trial court did not give the jurors the cautionary instruction contained in the last paragraph of CALJIC No. 1.00, Fourth edition, 1979, which states: “You must not be swayed by mere sentiment, conjecture, sympathy, passion, prejudice, public opinion or public feeling. Both the People and the defendant have a right to expect that you will conscientiously consider and weigh the evidence and apply the law of the case, and that you will reach a just verdict regardless of what the consequences of such verdict may be.” (The court’s failure to give this instruction will be discussed in pt. ILL.) Defendants do not explain why the failure to give this instruction, when combined with the admission of the tape-recorded conversations, should have given rise to an error of constitutional magnitude, and we can conceive of no reason why it should. E. Fingerprints The killers of Bobby and Eric Hassan stole Christmas presents, after unwrapping them, from the Hassan family home. Los Angeles Police Officer Rollins took the wrapping paper and the cardboard boxes in which the presents had been wrapped, and placed them in a Los Angeles Police Department evidence locker. Theareafter, Sylvia Conrad, an employee of the Los Angeles Police Department fingerprint laboratory, allegedly sprayed ninhydrin on them. Ninhydrin creates a chemical reaction that causes any latent fingerprints on the sprayed surface to become visible. Conrad apparently discovered two latent fingerprints on the surface of the wrapping paper, and took photographs of the prints. Fingerprint expert Donald Keir compared the latent prints on the two photographs with latent fingerprints made by defendant Ross, and concluded that they were made by the same person. Conrad did not testify at trial, nor did anyone else who had observed her actions. Fingerprint expert Keir testified that Conrad had taken the steps described above, basing his testimony on her written report. Defendant Ross argues that the trial court should have sustained his objections that this testimony was inadmissible hearsay, and that admission of the hearsay violated his confrontation rights under section 686, subdivision 3, under article I, section 15 of the California Constitution, and under the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. We conclude that the trial court properly permitted fingerprint expert Keir to testify regarding the content of the report by Conrad, because the report itself was properly admissible under the business records exception to the hearsay rule. (Evid. Code, § 1271.) That rule provides: “Evidence of a writing made as a record of an act, condition, or event is not made inadmissible by the hearsay rule when offered to prove the act, condition, or event if: [¶] (a) The writing was made in the regular course of business; [¶] (b) The writing was made at or near the time of the act, condition, or event; [¶] (c) The custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation; and [¶] (d) The sources of information and method and time of preparation were such as to indicate its trustworthiness." Fingerprint expert Keir testified that the report prepared by Conrad was on a form that is filled out in the regular course of business whenever a laboratory employee sprays an item with ninhydrin; that such reports are completed by the person doing the spraying; that Keir knew that Conrad was required to fill out such a form at or near the time she was doing the spraying. Keir described briefly the manner in which a form such as the one prepared by Conrad must be completed. According to defendant Ross, the report did not qualify as a business record because the prosecutor failed to show that Conrad’s report was prepared “at or near the time of the act, condition, or event” (Evid. Code, § 1271, subd. (b)), or that “[t]he sources of information and method and time of preparation were such as to indicate its trustworthiness” (id., § 1271, subd. (d)). Ross contends that fingerprint expert Keir’s testimony was inadequate to establish these facts, because Keir had no personal knowledge of when the report was made. But Keir, who had been employed as a fingerprint expert at the same laboratory where Conrad was a 13-year employee, testified that Conrad was obligated to prepare the report at or near the time that she did the acts described in the report. Keir’s testimony was sufficient to demonstrate compliance with Evidence Code section 1271. (See 1 Jefferson, Cal. Evidence Benchbook (Cont.Ed.Bar 2d ed. 1982) § 4.1, p. 217.) Defendant Ross contends that the trial court also erred by permitting Keir to read from a written inventory of items taken from the crime scene that was prepared by Officer Rollins, who took custody of the Christmas wrapping paper and cardboard containers at the scene of the murder and brought them to the Los Angeles Police Department, and to compare that inventory with items listed in Conrad’s report. Ross is correct that the inventory was not a business record, because there was no evidence that it was prepared at or near the time that Rollins brought the wrapping paper and other items listed in the inventory to the police department. But Rollins testified that the wrapping paper and cardboard boxes referred to in Conrad’s report appeared to be the ones he had taken from the murder scene. Furthermore, Mercie Hassan, wife of murder victim Bobby Hassan, identified the same wrapping paper and boxes, testifying that they had contained the Hassan family’s Christmas presents that were stolen by the persons who killed her husband and son. Thus, to the extent that the trial court erred in permitting Keir to read from Rollins’s report, the error was harmless under any standard. Defendant Ross argues that the trial court’s denial of his request that the prosecution be ordered to provide him with “blowups” of the photographs of his fingerprints, which the prosecution used against him, denied him the right to present evidence and to ancillary services reasonably necessary to the defense. (See Coronevsky v. Superior Court (1984) 36 Cal.3d 307, 320 [204 Cal.Rptr. 165, 682 P.2d 360].) We disagree. The prosecution was under no obligation to provide the defense with blowups of the photographs; if defendant Ross wanted them, he was free to make his own. If he lacked the money to do so, the law at that time required a request for funds from a judge “other than the trial judge presiding over the capital case in question.” (Former § 987.9, as enacted by Stats. 1977, ch. 1048, § 1, p. 3178.) The record does not show that defendant Ross made such a request. Defendant Ross also complains that the prosecution did not provide him with normal-size copies of the fingerprint photographs until the morning of the prosecution’s fingerprint expert’s testimony. The reasons for the prosecutor’s delay were disputed by the parties at trial. Without resolving the dispute, the trial court permitted defense counsel to postpone cross-examination of the prosecution’s expert until counsel had had an opportunity to examine the photographs, and defense counsel conducted cross-examination two days later. By giving defense counsel a chance to examine the fingerprint photographs before cross-examining the expert witness, the trial court cured any possible prejudice defendant Ross might have suffered from the prosecution’s failure to provide the fingerprint photographs earlier. F. The Murder of Teheran Jefferson As previously mentioned (see pt. I.A.3., ante), the prosecution introduced evidence of the murder of Teheran Jefferson, which occurred around the time of the Hassan and Taylor crimes. A summary of that evidence follows: Los Angeles Police Officer Billy Leader arrived at the scene of a homicide at 862 West 126th Street, Los Angeles. He found the victim, Teheran Jefferson, with his upper torso on the bed, and his knees and feet on the floor. Jefferson’s hands were tied behind his back, a pillow was over his head, and his mouth was gagged with a T-shirt. He had been shot in the back of the head. The wound was a “contact wound,” meaning that the killer had placed a gun against Jefferson’s head and pulled the trigger. In the kitchen was a box containing “marijuana debris” and some plastic baggies. In Officer Leader’s expert opinion, the owner of the marijuana possessed it for the purpose of sale. Sandra Taylor, Jefferson’s ex-girlfriend, testified that Jefferson sold marijuana. The bullet that killed Jefferson was found under his body. A prosecution ballistics expert testified that the bullet was either of a .38- or .357-caliber, and had rifling characteristics, which were produced by the gun that fired it, and which the expert described as “six lands and grooves and a left hand twist.” It was thus similar to the bullet that killed Bobby Hassan, which was a .357-caliber bullet, bearing six lands and grooves and a left-hand twist. The expert was unable to say, however, that the two bullets were fired by the same gun. He also explained that Colt revolvers generally produced six lands and grooves with a left-hand twist. The prosecution introduced no evidence directly connecting either defendant in this case with Jefferson’s murder. Both defendants contend that the trial court should have excluded evidence of the Jefferson murder because (1) it tended to show a disposition to commit criminal acts, and thus its admission violated Evidence Code section 1101; (2) its probative value was substantially outweighed by its prejudicial effect, in violation of Evidence Code section 352; and (3) admission of the evidence violated defendants’ right to due process of law. Before the prosecutor’s opening statement, counsel for defendant Champion objected to the evidence of Jefferson’s murder, without, however, stating grounds for the objection. When the trial court asked for “the People’s position on this issue,” the prosecution responded with a lengthy offer of proof, and explained that the evidence was admissible to show an ongoing conspiracy by defendants to murder drug dealers in their neighborhood, because the crimes exhibited a similar modus operand!, and because the Jefferson murder showed that in this case defendants harbored the intent to kill Bobby and Eric Hassan and (as to defendant Ross) Michael Taylor. Counsel for defendant Ross then pointed out that the prosecutor had sent the defense attorneys a letter informing them that he intended to use the evidence of the Jefferson murder in aggravation at the penalty phase of the trial, and counsel for Ross argued that this letter misled the defense into believing that the prosecutor would not use this evidence at the guilt phase of trial. The prosecutor responded that he had sent defense counsel a subsequent letter stating his intent to use the evidence of the Jefferson murder at the guilt phase. The trial court then ruled that the evidence would be admitted. After the parties discussed the admissibility of other, unrelated evidence, counsel for defendant Ross noted for the record that he did not recall receiving the subsequent letter mentioned by the prosecutor. Defense counsel made no further objection to the admission of the evidence of the Jefferson murder until the conclusion of the prosecution’s case, when the parties were discussing the admissibility of the prosecution’s exhibits. At that time, counsel for defendant Champion objected to the admission of all of the exhibits relating to the murder of Jefferson (consisting of the bullet that killed Jefferson, and photographs of the victim and the scene of the crime), “because of the total irrelevance of the Teheran Jefferson case.” Counsel for defendant Ross said that he had the same objection to the exhibits and to “the testimony concerning Teheran Jefferson because it has no connection with this case at all, no similarity.” The court overruled the defense objections. Generally, reviewing courts will not consider a challenge to the admissibility of evidence absent “ ‘a specific and timely objection in the trial court on the ground sought to be urged on appeal.’ ” (People v. Raley (1992) 2 Cal.4th 870, 892 [8 Cal.Rptr.2d 678, 830 P.2d 712]; Evid. Code, § 353, subd. (a).) In this case, defendants never asserted at trial that admission of the evidence of Jefferson’s killing violated Evidence Code sections 352 or 1101, or their right to due process of law, the grounds asserted on this appeal. We therefore will not consider these claims on appeal. (People v. Wader, supra, 5 Cal.4th at p. 635.) Defendants also assert that the evidence of the Jefferson killing should have been excluded because it was irrelevant. Although counsel registered a timely objection to the admission of the exhibits relating to Jefferson’s death, we question whether their objection to the testimony regarding his death was timely, because it was not made until long after the witnesses had testified. Assuming for the sake of argument that we may consider the issue, we find any error in admitting the evidence of Jefferson’s death to be harmless. As defendants themselves point out, the prosecution offered no evidence directly connecting defendants to Jefferson’s death. Thus, it seems unlikely that the jury gave the evidence substantial weight. We conclude there is no reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different if the trial court had excluded the evidence of Jefferson’s murder. (People v. Watson (1956) 46 Cal.2d 818, 836 [299 P.2d 243].) Defendants accuse the prosecutor of misconduct, asserting that his offer of proof, setting forth the evidence he intended to introduce regarding Jefferson’s murder, misled the trial court into believing that the prosecution would be able to link the killing of Jefferson to defendants. We have examined the offer of proof and find no inaccuracies. In any event, defendants made no objection, after the jury heard the evidencé relating to Jefferson’s death, on the ground that the evidence was inconsistent with the prosecutor’s offer of proof. They thus have not preserved the right to raise the issue on appeal. (People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 27 [164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468].) G. Evidence of Gang Activity As previously mentioned (see pt. I.A.3., ante), the prosecution called Deputy Sheriff Ronnie Williams, an expert in juvenile gangs, to testify. Deputy Williams was assigned to the “street gang detail” at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lennox Sub-Station; for the previous four and one-half to five years his work had involved the investigation of street gangs in the Lennox area. He testified as follows; Deputy Williams was familiar with the Raymond Avenue Crips. That gang’s “prime hangout” was Helen Keller Park. Defendant Ross, defendant Champion, and Evan Malett (identified by Mary and Cora Taylor as the man who held a gun during the robbery in which Michael Taylor was murdered) had each told Williams that they were members of the Raymond Avenue Crips. According to other gang members, the gang’s nicknames for defendant Ross were “Evil” and “Little Evil”; Champion’s gang nickname was originally “Mr. Crazy 8,” and later “Treacherous,” “Trech,” and “Mr. Trech.” Champion, Ross, and Malett were all members of a subgroup of the Raymond Avenue Crips called the “Old Gangsters,” because they had been gang members for a long time. Deputy Williams also testified about a brown Buick automobile. As we discussed earlier in our summary of the facts, sheriff’s deputies saw four Black males in a brown Buick automobile, driving without its headlights, on the night Michael Taylor was murdered. When they attempted to stop the car, it took off at high speed. The deputies gave chase; the car struck a curb and was abandoned by its occupants. Inside the car, police found items stolen from the Taylors’ apartment as well as the .357-caliber Ruger revolver stolen from the Hassan residence. According to Deputy Williams, a man named Frank Harris owned the Buick. Three of Harris’s sons—Lavell, Marcus, and Michael Player—were members of the Raymond Avenue Crips. Deputy Williams had seen Marcus and Michael Player driving the Buick. In the months immediately preceding the murders of the Hassans and Michael Taylor, Williams had frequently observed defendants together with the Player brothers and Malett. Deputy Williams explained that gang members use graffiti to “advertise” their gang membership. He had taken three photographs of gang graffiti in the neighborhood of Helen Keller Park. Two of the photographs, which were admitted into evidence, showed a circle with the number 8 and the letters O/R/C. The circle and the number 8 identified defendant Champion by his earlier nickname, “Mr. Crazy 8," and the letters “O/R/C” stood for “Old Raymond Crips.” The third photograph showed a building diagonally across the street from the home of Michael Taylor. On the building was written “Trecherous,” “Popeye,” “Raymond Avenue Crips Cuzzins,” and “do-re-me” and a dollar sign. According to Deputy Williams, “Treacherous” was defendant Champion’s nickname, “Popeye” was the name of another member of the Raymond Crips, and the word “do-re-me” and a dollar sign referred to the obtaining of money in a robbery or burglary. Deputy Williams identified the persons appearing in a set of four photographs found in defendant Champion’s bedroom when he was arrested. One photograph showed Lavel Player clasping defendant Ross’s left hand, while Ross held a revolver in his right hand. A second photograph depicted defendant Ross embracing Marcus Player. A third showed defendant Champion standing in the kitchen, brandishing a revolver, while the fourth depicted Lavel Player holding a bat, with a gun (apparently the same revolver) thrust into the top of his trousers. Deputy Williams also identified three other photographs, which an anonymous person had given him. Two of the photos showed defendant Champion standing face-to-face with Marcus Player, while the third depicted defendant Champion “making a Raymond Crip sign” with his hand. Deputy Williams also identified Bobby Hassan, Jr., who was the son of murder victim Bobby Hassan and the brother of murder victim Eric Hassan, as a “junior member” of the Raymond Avenue Crips gang. Defendants contend that Deputy Williams’s testimony was inadmissible and prejudicial. They rely on a variety of theories. Defendants first argue that the prosecution failed to show that they were members of the Raymond Avenue Crips gang when the crimes in this case occurred. Not so. Deputy Williams testified that defendants admitted to him that they were members of the gang. Defendants contend that they made these admissions to Williams several years before the murders in this case, and that Williams never demonstrated that they were gang members when the murders occurred. This objection goes to the weight, not the admissibility, of Williams’s testimony. Based on Williams’s testimony that defendants had admitted their gang membership, and that they continued to associate with other admitted gang members until the time of the murders, the jury could reasonably conclude that defendants were still members of the Raymond Avenue Crips at the time of the murders. Defendants next argue that evidence of their gang membership was irrelevant to any issue in the case, and was a prosecutorial attempt to prove them guilty by association. We disagree. The prosecution offered substantial evidence that members of the Raymond Avenue Crips participated in the murders of Michael Taylor, Bobby Hassan, and Eric Hassan. Items stolen during each of the murders were found in a car owned by the father of three members of the gang: Lavell, Marcus, and Michael Player. Two witnesses identified another gang member, Evan Malett, as a participant in one of the murders. Given this evidence, proof that defendants were members of the same gang formed a significant evidentiary link in the chain of proof tying them to the crimes in this case. Moreover, evidence that defendants were members of the Raymond Avenue Crips gang was important to explain the portion of the tape-recorded conversation between defendants in which they discussed Bobby Hassan, Jr. (the son of murder victim Bobby Hassan and the brother of murder victim Eric Hassan). As set forth previously (see pt. H.D., ante), defendant Ross asked defendant Champion: “He ain’t never said nothing?” Defendant Champion responded: “No, he’s a punk ass.” These otherwise cryptic comments became significant if defendants and Bobby Hassan, Jr., were members of the same gang. Because the evidence showed them to be members of the Raymond Avenue Crips, the jury could reasonably infer that Bobby Hassan, Jr., could, through his gang association, have learned of defendants’ participation in the murders with which they were charged, that defendants were concerned that he might reveal that information to the police, and that they were discussing this possibility in their tape-recorded conversation. Deputy Williams’s testimony that defendants and Bobby Hassan, Jr., were members of the same gang was thus important to give meaning to defendants’ discussion.