Hempstead

Fred Hempstead appeals from a judgment of conviction for second degree murder (Pen. Code, § 187) with a firearm (Pen. Code, § 12022.5) and assault with a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, § 245, subd. (a)). We affirm the conviction.

On July 14, 1980, Hempstead shot Kenneth Pickett and Pickett’s brother, Eugene Henderson, in the home in which they all lived. Pickett died; Henderson was wounded in his right thigh.

Hempstead’s defense at trial was that the shooting was accidental: he was putting the gun away when Pickett hit his hand and caused the gun to fire; Henderson grabbed his hand and the gun accidentally discharged again; the gun fired a third time when Hempstead tried to empty it. The prosecution’s evidence supported the jury’s verdict.

Hempstead intended to call eight witnesses who would give opinion testimony as to Hempstead’s good character based on their contact with him during the previous five to fifteen years. During trial he moved in limine to preclude the prosecutor from cross-examining the witnesses about prior acts of misconduct by Hempstead. The acts consisted of an unprosecuted 1974 battery and an unprosecuted 1973 assault with a deadly weapon and kidnaping,…