What is the defense's burden of producing evidence at a pre-hearing hearing?

Here, after the trial court stated which documents it had reviewed prior to the hearing, it stated: "And, [defense counsel], this is your burden, so if you could go ahead. And you had people that came up from southern California and I wanted to make sure they had their voice." Defense counsel then stated that she had counseled them as to how to address the court and requested that they be allowed to speak at the podium in a narrative form. Several relatives and a friend then addressed the court on defendant's behalf. Based on this record, we are not convinced that the trial court was referring to either a defense burden of producing evidence or of proof. When taken in context, the trial court's reference to a defense burden may well have been to defense counsel's obligation to organize the various individuals who wanted to address the court on defendant's behalf. Given the ambiguity of the trial court's statement and the presumption that trial courts are aware of and follow the law (People v. Stowell (2003) 31 Cal.4th 1107, 1114), we reject defendant's argument.