The People, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Donald Lewis Brooks, Defendant and Appellant.

Summary

The opinion addresses a capital defendant's challenge to the striking of his testimony at a suppression hearing after he refused to answer a relevant cross-examination question. The court concluded that, even assuming the trial court abused its discretion, any error was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt because the only challenged statement introduced at trial was cumulative of and less damaging than other properly admitted evidence. The opinion also rejects several additional claims concerning capital representation and evidentiary rulings; the supplied text is truncated before the full disposition of the remaining claims.