delivered the opinion of the Court.
Appellant Gallegos was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to inflict bodily injury, and conspiracy to commit the same offense. One Sandoval was shot in the leg, allegedly by defendant, during an altercation between two groups of people. After being arrested, arraigned, and while in county jail, appellant made several telephone calls in order to retain counsel. A portion of one of these calls was overheard by the jailer. Defendant was heard to say: “I was the one who shot him.” Although objected to, and after an in camera hearing, the jailer was allowed to testify to overhearing the statement.
I.
Defendant first contends that the act of the jailer in
overhearing his conversation represented an intrusion into defendant’s right to privacy under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We disagree. The Fourth Amendment protects one who has a reasonable expectation of privacy under the circumstances. However, “[w]hat a person knowingly exposes to the public, even in his own home or office, is not a subject of the Fourth Amendment protection.”
Katz v. United States,
II.
Defendant’s next contention is that the jailer’s act of overhearing his conversation with an attorney operated to deny to defendant his right to effective representation of counsel guaranteed under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In this connection, defendant relies on cases in which the facts are so distinguishable as to constitute no authority for the contention urged. In
State v. Cory,
In the case at bar, the lower court found, following the suppression hearing, that when defendant made the statement in question, he was not being subjected to custodial interrogation, and that the jailer overheard the statement “accidentally and not by any planned eavesdropping or monitoring of the call.” As above, we must presume that these findings are supported by the evidence considered by the lower court.
Kelley v. People, supra. See also Kurtz v. People,
Defendant’s final contention relates to a response by the jailer when testifying at trial that he was acquainted with defendant, “in that [defendant] has been in the jail several times.” Defense counsel objected to this voluntary observation and moved for a mistrial. The lower court immediately cautioned the jury to disregard the statement, but denied the motion for mistrial. The statement was an inadvertent chance remark which made no reference to convictions for any crime. Because of the nature of the offense and the evidence establishing the defendant as the person who committed it, the reference to defendant having been in jail could not have been the basis of the conviction and was not prejudicial.
Henson v. People,
The judgment is affirmed.
MR. JUSTICE HODGES not participating.
