California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Galindo, F073856 (Cal. App. 2019):
"[C]onduct is assertive if the actor at the time intended the conduct to convey a particular meaning to another person. [Citation.] For example, a nod of the head in response to a question calling for a yes-or-no answer, or a gesture pointing to a particular person when asked to identify a perpetrator, are examples of assertive conduct." (People v. Jurado (2006) 38 Cal.4th 72, 129.) Crying and other emotional displays depicted in a videotaped police interrogation are, "by themselves, ... nonassertive conduct, and thus not within the hearsay rule." (Id. at p. 129; People v. Williams (2006) 40 Cal.4th 287, 318.) When a defendant's nonassertive conduct is intertwined with statements made to the
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police denying culpability, however, the trial court may properly exclude the entirety of the recorded interview as inadmissible hearsay. (People v. Williams, supra, at p. 318.)
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