Garcia

By jury verdict defendant Pietro Garcia was convicted of two counts of mayhem with use of a deadly weapon (Pen. Code, §§ 203; 12022, subd. (b)), two counts of attempted murder with use of a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily injury (§§ 187, 664, 12022.7), and three counts of assault with a deadly weapon (§ 245, subd. (a)). Defendant was also found to have suffered a prior felony conviction. These convictions arise out of three separate stabbing incidents over a five-day period in December of 1980. In defendant’s appeal from the judgment entered on the verdict, the questions presented are 1) whether a private communication between the judge and two members of the jury impinged on defendant’s constitutional rights; 2) whether the trial court’s refusal to question the remainder of the jury constituted error; 3) whether the trial court’s comments to two jury members denied defendant a fair trial; and 4) whether remarks made by the prosecution during closing argument constituted re versible error. In connection with the third issue, we are also called upon to decide the novel question of whether the jury may properly consider a nontestifying defendant’s courtroom behavior…