California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Ayala, C077032 (Cal. App. 2019):
Cal.App.3d 1540, 1543 [to be sufficient to sustain a conviction, an accomplice's testimony must be corroborated by independent evidence].) This evidence is reasonable, credible, and of solid value such that a reasonable trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. (See People v. Rodriguez (1999) 20 Cal.4th 1, 11.)
We cannot reach defendant's search warrant claims because the reconstructed record as it presently stands prevents meaningful review. The proper procedure to undertake when a search warrant or sealed affidavit is missing from the record is to "remand the case to the superior court with directions to hold a hearing to reconstruct or settle the record as to the missing search warrant affidavit and augment the record accordingly." (People v. Galland (2008) 45 Cal.4th 354, 373.) Reversal is required only when " ' "critical evidence or a substantial part of a [record] is irretrievably lost or destroyed, and there is no alternative way to provide an adequate record so that the appellate court may pass upon the question sought to be raised." ' " (Id. at p. 370.)
"We review the superior court's findings regarding the reconstruction of the original search warrant affidavit, which are essentially factual, under a deferential substantial evidence standard. We then independently determine whether the record, as reconstructed and settled by the trial court, is adequate to allow the appeal to proceed meaningfully." (People v. Galland, supra, 45 Cal.4th at p. 370.)
There is no indication the trial court ever looked at the documents submitted by the officer in charge of obtaining the search warrant and there is no finding for us to review for substantial evidence or otherwise. Reversal is unwarranted on this basis, however, because there is no indication the record has been irretrievably lost or destroyed. (See People v. Galland, supra, 45 Cal.4th at p. 370.) Because we have reversed defendant's convictions already, this is a problem only in the event the prosecution elects to retry defendant's case. If the prosecutor elects to do so, the trial
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