People v. Washington

*22 Under the so-called Aranda / Bruton doctrine, a trial court may generally not allow a jury in a joint criminal trial of a defendant and *23 codefendant to hear the unredacted confession of the codefendant that also directly implicates the defendant-even if the jury is instructed not to consider the confession as evidence against the defendant. ( People v. Aranda (1965) 63 Cal.2d 518 , 529-531, 47 Cal.Rptr. 353 , 407 P.2d 265 ( Aranda ), abrogated in part by Cal. Const., art. I, § 28, subd. (d); Bruton v. United States (1968) 391 U.S. 123 , 128-136, 88 S.Ct. 1620 , 20 L.Ed.2d 476 ( Bruton ).) Such a confession is so "powerfully incriminating," the doctrine provides, that the jury cannot be expected to heed the court's instruction and put it out of its collective mind when evaluating the defendant's guilt. ( Bruton , at pp. 129, 135, 88 S.Ct. 1620 .) Thus, unless the codefendant testifies and is subject to cross-examination, the admission of the codefendant's unredacted confession at the joint trial violates the defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront and cross-examine witnesses. ( Bruton , at pp. 128-136, 88 S.Ct. 1620 ; Aranda , at pp. 529-531, 47 Cal.Rptr. 353 , 407…