Can a defendant request a rereading of portions of a witness's testimony?

The suggestion by defendant that the trial court's decision not to permit the reading of portions of the testimony of a witness amounted to "jury coercion" is without merit. The trial court made it clear, prior to trial, that rereading a portion of a witness's testimony was not permitted because testimony could then be taken out of context. This decision was well within the sound discretion of the court. We recently rejected this very argument in People v. Hillhouse (2002) 27 Cal.4th 469, 506-507, 117 Cal.Rptr.2d 45, 40 P.3d 754: "[Defendant argues the court erred in advising the jury it would hear the entire testimony of any given witness. This portion of the instruction did not violate section 1138 [of the Penal Code]. That statute mandates the readback of testimony at jury request, but it does not forbid giving the jury more than it requests so it also receives the context.

[70 P.3d 311]

Defendant speculates the jury may have wanted a rereading of some part of [the witness's] testimony but chose not to request it because the entire testimony was lengthy.... But in any event, the court made clear it would provide any requested rereading of material testimony. Merely informing the jury of the time it may take for rehearing testimony is not impermissible jury coercion. [Citation.]"

[70 P.3d 311]