People v. Daniels CA3

California Court of Appeal·Decided June 25, 2015·No. C070580·Unpublished

Opinion

Filed 6/25/15 P. v. Daniels CA3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT (Sacramento) ----

THE PEOPLE, C070580

Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 10F08003)

v.

TOMMY GENE DANIELS,

Defendant and Appellant.

Defendant Tommy Gene Daniels appeals following conviction on multiple counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon five child victims (Pen. Code, §§ 288, subd. (a), 667.61, subd. (e)(5)1) who were in his home for daycare or “respite care.”2 Defendant was sentenced to a determinate term of eight years consecutive to an indeterminate term of

1 Undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code in effect at the time of the charged offenses. 2 Respite care was described as a temporary live-in care for adopted children with behavioral problems, to give the adoptive parents a respite.

1 150 years. Defendant contends: (1) the trial court erred in allowing evidence of the Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS); (2) the court erred in excluding evidence of victims’ mental health issues; (3) the evidence is insufficient for several counts; (4) the trial court erred in positioning a uniformed officer near defendant during trial without any finding of necessity; (5) the cumulative effect of errors was prejudicial; (6) the court erred in ordering section 1202.1 HIV/AIDS testing; and (7) jail booking and classification fees were improper because there was insufficient evidence of defendant’s ability to pay and of the actual administrative costs. We reverse as to the HIV test order and otherwise affirm the judgment. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND The Charged Offenses Defendant, who was born in 1962, was charged in a second amended information with 12 counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon five children under age 14: Counts One and Two alleged that defendant placed his finger in or on the vagina of victim A.G. with lewd or lascivious intent, on or about July 5, 2005, in two separate acts; Counts Three, Four, and Five3 alleged that between June 1, 2003, and August 31, 2007, defendant with lewd or lascivious intent (a) directed victim “K.N.” to touch herself in the master bathroom, (b) touched K.N. in the living room, and (c) directed K.N. to touch herself in the bathroom; Counts Six and Seven alleged that between December 1, 2002, and August 31, 2007, defendant with lewd or lascivious intent directed victim “H.N.” to touch herself in two separate acts;

3 The jury ultimately found defendant not guilty on Count Five, the bathroom allegation.

2 Counts Eight, Nine, and Ten alleged that between August 1, 2003, and December 31, 2004, defendant with the requisite intent (a) touched the vagina of victim “H.B.1”4 in the bathroom, (b) touched her vagina in the bathroom in a separate act, and (c) touched her vagina on or about her birthday; Counts 11 and 12 alleged that between November 1, 2003, and December 31, 2004, defendant with the requisite intent directed victim “H.B.2” to touch herself in two separate acts. The second amended information also alleged defendant had committed the offenses against two or more victims, bringing him within the one-strike law, section 667.61, subdivision (e)(5). Prosecution’s Case-in-Chief Defendant and his wife Brenda Daniels operated a daycare in their home, even after their license was revoked in 2003.5 Around 2002, they began also providing “respite care” by taking in other people’s adopted children with behavioral problems. They also provided foster care under certification by a licensed agency, Positive Option, until their certification was revoked in 2003. The victims were in daycare or respite care. Victim A.G. -- Counts One and Two A.G. is the victim that first reported the abuse at defendant’s home. Age 12 at trial, she went to daycare at defendant’s home between 2002 and 2005. A.G. and her parents testified to an incident on July 5, 2005, when A.G. was six years old. A.G. testified she was napping behind a couch. Someone moved her to a bed in a bedroom. The next thing she remembered was defendant shaking her shoulders to wake

4 Two sisters have the same initials. We refer to them as H.B.1 and H.B.2. H.B.1 is the older of the two siblings. 5 Much of the evidence regarding revocation was presented in the prosecution’s rebuttal case. We discuss that evidence, post.

3 her up. She did not want to get up, so she pretended she was still asleep. Defendant continued shaking her shoulders and then placed his finger in her vagina and moved his finger around. A.G. moved away, still pretending to be asleep, but defendant again placed his finger in her vagina and moved his finger around. Defendant left the room. A.G.’s vagina hurt. On cross-examination, A.G. admitted she did not see defendant, because she did not open her eyes. But she believed it was defendant because of the way the finger felt. She had felt defendant’s hands before; she described his hands as “kind of hard and big like a man’s.” AG’s father testified that when A.G. came home that day, she told him that defendant had touched her bottom and vagina. Her father told her mother. Her mother testified she asked A.G. what happened. A.G. said she had been taking a nap in a bedroom, when defendant came into the room, called her name, put his hand down her pants, stuck his finger in her vagina (a word with which A.G. was familiar), and moved his finger. A.G. said she rolled over and pretended to be asleep, and defendant left the room. A.G.’s parents phoned the Danielses’ home and left a message for Brenda to call them. The parents then contacted a doctor, who contacted the police. A.G.’s mother testified she left her children with the Danielses even after she learned their license was revoked, because it was her “understanding” the revocation was merely for “administrative stuff.” Defendant’s wife was the primary caregiver, but defendant sometimes helped, as did their two older daughters. Physician assistant Ana Ross, who had special training in child sex abuse, observed several areas of redness in A.G.’s vaginal area. But the examination could not prove or disabuse sexual abuse. A lack of proper hygiene could also cause irritation. The jury saw a videotaped interview of A.G. at the Special Assault Forensic Evaluation (SAFE) Center. A.G. said she was sleeping, and defendant put his finger in her vagina and moved it around, and then she woke up. While his finger was in her vagina, she turned away from him, and his finger came out, but then he put it in again and

4 moved his finger around in her vagina. When asked what it means to be asleep, she said, “It means that your eyes [are] closed and you’re not really moving.” When defendant did this, she was “kind of asleep and awake,” “in the middle.” When his finger went in, she thought, “ ‘oh what’s that,’ ” and heard defendant’s voice. Victim K.N. -- Counts Three, Four, and Five K.N., age 15 at the time of trial, lived in defendant’s home for a year or two but she did not remember how old she was.6 She had therapy sessions there with a therapist, Mell LaValley,7 with defendant present. Three or four times a week, defendant made K.N. touch herself in the master bathroom. She thought she was eight or nine years old the first time. Defendant’s wife had taken most of the children to a circus or fair. Defendant took K.N. into the bathroom, told her to pull down her pants, and lie on her back on the floor. He got out some “medicine stuff” and told her to take some in her hands and rub her vagina. She hesitated.

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