SAN FRANCISCO — Even when the lives of prosecution witnesses are in danger, their identities must be disclosed to the defense during a murder trial, the California Supreme Court decided Thursday.
Prosecutors in gang-related cases increasingly have been asking courts to conceal the names of witnesses. The Supreme Court, while expressing concern for witness safety, now has made it clear that key prosecution witnesses will not be permitted to testify anonymously in California.
The unanimous decision overturns two lower court rulings that allowed Los Angeles prosecutors to keep secret the names of three witnesses to a Los Angeles County jailhouse murder. One of the defendants in the case faces the death penalty.
Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Brentford J. Ferreira said Thursday's decision will make it harder for police and prosecutors to persuade witnesses to come forth in gang cases.
"If the defendants hear the witnesses' true names, then there is a very great chance the Mexican Mafia will find them and kill them, no matter what program we put them into, no matter what means we use to protect them," Ferreira said. Prosecutors said the witnesses in the jailhouse murder case already have been threatened by the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang.
Michael Abelson, attorney for the private Witness Protection Foundation, sounded a similar note: "This is a death penalty case for the three witnesses," he said. "They're the ones who are going to pay a capital price."
But defense lawyer Michael Crain called the decision a "great victory" and predicted that it would dampen a recent prosecutorial "fad" toward using anonymous witnesses.
"It is impossible to investigate a criminal case if you don't know who the witnesses are," said Crain, a lawyer for one of the accused killers.
Already, Los Angeles County prosecutors said, they can't get witnesses to come forward in more than 1,000 gang murders. The district attorney's office has filed charges in the past five years in the murders of 25 witnesses, and 1,600 cases of witness intimidation are under investigation.
Whether the witnesses in the current case now will be willing to take the stand is unclear, Ferreira said, adding that their testimony is critical for the prosecution's case.
The district attorney's office may appeal the case, Alvarado vs. Superior Court, SO59827, to the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.
