The People v. Silva CA6

BACKGROUND

Defendant had an acrimonious, on-again off-again relationship with Elsa Esparza. He had pleaded no contest to violating a protective order in favor of Esparza, and the trial court had issued a protective order as part of the resolution of that case. In an attempt at reconciliation, defendant confronted Esparza at her home. Afterward, Esparza called the police and reported that defendant had held a knife to her cheek. The police arrested defendant two days later. They recorded defendant’s telephone calls from jail to Esparza. The recordings provided the evidence against defendant on counts 4 and 5. Defendant testified and claimed that (1) Esparza had fabricated the knife-assault scenario, and (2) during the jailhouse telephone calls, he had encouraged Esparza to be honest rather than drop the charges. After deliberating for two days, the jury informed the trial court that it had reached a verdict on count 5 but could not reach a verdict on the other counts. This colloquy followed. “THE COURT: [Juror No. 8], as the foreperson, let me ask you some questions, please. [¶] You folks have obviously been deliberating together and discussing and considering the matter. You have…