Geier

*562 Opinion

Defendant Christopher Adam Geier was convicted by a jury of the forcible rape of Erin Tynan (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2)), the murder of Erin Tynan (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), as to which a felony-murder special circumstance was found to be true (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)), two counts of conspiracy to commit murder (Pen. Code, §§ 182, subd. (a)(1), 187), and the murder of Curtis James Dean (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), as to which financial gain, lying-in-wait and multiple-murder special circumstances were found to be true (Pen. Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(1), (3), (15)). Defendant was also convicted of conspiracy to murder Gail Lebouef (Pen. Code, §§ 182, subd. (a)(1), 187). The jury also found true special allegations that defendant personally used a knife and a handgun in the commission of the offenses. (Pen. Code, §§ 12022, subd. (b), 1203.06, subd. (a)(1).) The jury returned death verdicts for the murders of Erin Tynan and Curtis James Dean. The trial court declined to modify the verdict (Pen. Code, § 190.4, subd. (e)), and sentenced defendant to death on the murder counts. 1 This appeal is automatic. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11, subd. (a); § 1239,…

I concur in the decision affirming defendant’s convictions and imposition of the death penalty, but write separately to address the admission of DNA match testimony that was based on analysis by a nontestifying laboratory technician. I agree with the majority that the technician’s notes and report were not “testimonial” hearsay and hence their introduction through the prosecution’s DNA expert did not violate defendant’s confrontation rights under Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36 [ 158 L.Ed.2d 177 , 124 S.Ct. 1354 ] (Crawford). I reach that conclusion, however, only on narrow, fact-specific grounds; I would not hold or imply that all laboratory reports are nontestimonial. Unlike the majority, moreover, I would not hold that any error in admitting the DNA match evidence was harmless beyond a reasonable doubt.

As the majority explains, the prosecution tied defendant to the rape and murder of Erin Tynan partly through the expert testimony of Dr. Robin Cotton, laboratory director for Cellmark. Cotton testified that DNA taken from Tynan’s vagina matched defendant’s DNA sample and that the frequency of the matched DNA profile was between one in 53,000 and one in 5.7 million,…

Defendant Christopher Adam Geier was convicted by a jury of the forcible rape of Erin Tynan (Pen.Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2)), the murder of Erin Tynan (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)), as to which a felony-murder special circumstance was found to be true (Pen.Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(17)), two counts of conspiracy to commit murder (Pen.Code, §§ 182, subd. (a)(1), 187), and the murder of Curtis James Dean (Pen.Code, § 187, subd. (a)), as to which financial gain, lying-in-wait and multiple-murder special circumstances were found to be true (Pen.Code, § 190.2, subd. (a)(1), (3), (15). Defendant was also convicted of conspiracy to murder Gail Lebouef (Pen.Code, §§ 182, subd. (a)(1), 187). The jury also found true special allegations that defendant personally used a knife and a handgun in the commission of the offenses. (Pen.Code, §§ 12022, subd. (b), 1203.06, subd. (a)(1).) The jury returned death verdicts for the murders of Erin Tynan and James Curtis Dean. The trial court declined to modify the verdict (Pen. Code, § 190.4, subd. (e)), and sentenced defendant to death on the murder counts. [1] This appeal is automatic. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11, subd. (a); § 1239, subd.…