Carrillo v. Superior Court

Opinion

BOREN, P. J.

Petitioner Pedro Zumudio Carrillo (Carrillo) was charged with various crimes, including committing murder for the benefit of a criminal street gang. Defense counsel, as a trial tactic, elected not to move prior to trial to suppress Carrillo’s confession, deciding instead to allow the jury to hear Carrillo’s tape-recorded interview with the police in its entirety. After a portion of the taped interview was played for the jury, the trial court concluded Carrillo’s confession had been coerced. The court found that defense counsel’s failure to move to suppress the confession…