Kondor

Sophia Kondor was convicted by jury of five counts of grand theft (Pen. Code, § 487, subd. 1) and four counts of forgery (Pen. Code, § 470). The jury also found true the allegation that one of the thefts exceeded $25,000. Kondor contends: (1) precomplaint delay in prosecution denied her a fair trial; (2) it was prejudicial error to instruct the jury adverse inferences could be drawn from Kondor’s failure to explain evidence against her; and (3) her statements were admitted in violation of Miranda.

I

On March 20, 1980, LeRoy McFadden loaned Kondor $18,000, secured by a second trust deed on a house in Palm Springs. Actually, the deed was fraudulent and the lot vacant. Kondor did not tell McFadden she no longer owned the lot, having conveyed it to Kalman Toth nine days earlier.

In November, McFadden loaned Kondor an additional $25,000. In exchange, he received a note from Laurence Hopkinson, secured by a second trust deed on a parcel of real property Hopkinson owned. Kondor told McFadden she knew Hopkinson, who needed additional money because he recently purchased the house. In reality, the deed and note were fraudulent; Hopkinson had been dead since 1979.

In January…