Santos

Defendants Martin Santos, Chad Powers and Jose Johnny Romero were involuntary residents of the Sierra Conservation Center, a penal institution located in Jamestown, California. Early in the morning of May 3, 1992, defendants attacked fellow inmate Rene Villareal, beating and stabbing him several times. The attack turned into a generalized brawl in which numerous other inmates, including defendants, suffered various minor injuries. Defendants were each convicted after jury trial of a violation of Penal Code section 4501 (aggravated assault by a state prison inmate not serving a life sentence).

All three appeal from conviction, alleging several bases for reversal. Of the issues raised, only one has merit.

In the published portion of this opinion, we hold that the due process clause of the federal Constitution compels disclosure of misdemeanor convictions of witnesses when requested by defendant. However, the court’s error in denying defendants’ request therefor was harmless and we will affirm.

Statement of Facts

Within the California prison system, there is a long-standing feud between two rival groups of inmates, the northern Hispanics and the southern Hispanics. At…