People v. Murillo

Opinion

GILBERT, P. J.

A prosecution witness takes the witness stand but refuses to answer any questions. The trial court allows the prosecutor to ask the witness more than 100 leading questions concerning the witness’s out-of-court statements to prove defendant guilty of several criminal offenses. The questions create the illusion of testimony. This deprived defendant of a fair trial because he could not exercise his constitutional right of cross-examination. Instructions that cautioned the jury not to regard the prosecutor’s questions as evidence did not overcome the extreme prejudice to…