Jones

Introduction

We hold under the principles of People v. Hitch (1974) 12 Cal.3d 641 [ 117 Cal.Rptr. 9 , 527 P.2d 361 ], that a police officer must take reasonable precautions to preserve for trial his original handwritten notes made in the course of interrogating a criminal defendant unless the interrogation is tape recorded and the tape is preserved for trial. “Reasonable precautions”- mean a good-faith attempt to adhere to systematic procedures designed to preserve the notes for trial. If the officer fails to comply with this rule, the sanction will be suppression of all testimony by the officer concerning any statements made by the defendant during interrogation, assuming the requisite showing of materiality has been made.

In the present case, trial counsel’s failure to make a Hitch objection to the introduction of the officer’s testimony concerning appellant’s statements constituted ineffective representation by counsel under People v. Pope (1979) 23 Cal.3d 412, 424-426 [ 152 Cal.Rptr. 732 , 590 P.2d 859 , 2 A.L.R. 4th 1 ], We reverse the judgment.

The Case Below

Appellant was convicted by jury of second degree burglary and sentenced to state prison for the middle…