White

The procedures attendant to a criminal defendant’s right to discover relevant evidence in confidential peace officer personnel files— through the filing of a so-called “Pitchess” 1 motion—are established by both statute and decisional law. 2 The defining hallmark of the process is an in camera hearing in which the trial court reviews the files at issue outside the presence of the defendant and his or her counsel. The completeness of the records is established through questioning of the custodian of records who produced them. In order to protect the defendant’s right to a fair trial, the custodian must be placed under oath. (People v. Mooc (2001) 26 Cal.4th 1216, 1230, fn. 4 [ 114 Cal.Rptr.2d 482 , 36 P.3d 21 ] (Mooc); Evid. Code, § 710.) In this case we decide whether the trial court’s failure to administer the oath in this regard compels a conditional reversal of the judgment. We conclude that it does.

*1336 Jamal Charles White appeals the judgment entered after a jury convicted him of possessing marijuana in a jail facility (Pen. Code, 3 § 4573.6). In a bifurcated proceeding, the trial court found true allegations that appellant had three prior strike convictions (§§…