People v. Daniels CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 24, 2025
DocketD083366
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Daniels CA4/1 (People v. Daniels CA4/1) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Daniels CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2025).

Opinion

Filed 12/24/25 P. v. Daniels CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D083366

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCE409964)

MARK JAMISON DANIELS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, John M. Thompson, Judge. Affirmed. Susan L. Ferguson for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina and Elizabeth M. Renner, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. I. INTRODUCTION A jury convicted Mark Jamison Daniels of 12 lewd acts against his daughter. Challenging the sufficiency of the evidence on appeal, Daniels claims the sexual intent and victim age requirements of the offenses were not established. Daniels further contends that by instructing the jury that the offenses allegedly occurred “on or about” specific dates (CALCRIM No. 207), the trial court eliminated the offenses’ age elements and permitted the jury to convict Daniels twice for the same acts. Finding sufficient evidence for each count and no instructional error, we affirm the judgment. II. BACKGROUND During her childhood, E. lived with her father, Daniels, her mother (Mother), and her younger brother (Brother) and sister. When E. was 11 or 12 years old, Daniels began touching E.’s buttocks. Daniels then started touching E.’s breasts when she was 13 or 14. Both acts continued frequently through the time E. was 18. E. eventually reported Daniels to the police when she was 19, leading to Daniels’s arrest. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office charged

Daniels with four counts of lewd acts on a child under 14 (Pen. Code,1 § 288, subd. (a)), and eight counts of lewd acts on a child 14 or 15 years of age (§ 288, subd. (c)). Prosecutors alleged the following acts and time periods for the offenses: Counts 1 and 2: buttocks touching when E. was 12 (April 24, 2013, through April 23, 2014); Counts 3 and 4: buttocks touching when E. was 13 (April 24, 2014, through April 23, 2015); Counts 5 and 6: buttocks touching when E. was 14 (April 24, 2015, through April 23, 2016); Counts 7 and 8: breast touching when E. was 14 (April 24, 2015, through April 23, 2016); Counts 9 and 10: buttocks touching when E. was 15 (April 24, 2016, through April 23, 2017);

1 All further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Counts 11 and 12: breast touching when E. was 15 (April 24, 2016, through April 23, 2017).

At trial, E. testified that Daniels would grab, fondle, and grope her buttocks for “long durations.” E. also told the jury that Daniels would squeeze or run his hands down the sides of her breasts. According to E., Daniels began touching E.’s buttocks on a weekly basis when she was 11 or 12. When she was and 13 or 14, the touching began happening multiple times a day and expanded to her breasts. Both types of acts continued regularly until E. turned 18. Although Daniels would sometimes be discrete, this touching commonly happened in other family members’ presence, like when Daniels would give E. long hugs upon arriving home from work. E. testified that while Daniels committed these acts, he made moaning, sexual noises. Daniels also made comments about E.’s body, such as telling E. that she was “hot” and “sexy,” and her breasts were nice. Daniels also touched E. under her clothes at times, unhooking her bra to rub her back and requesting that she wear leggings because they provided easy access. E. also told the jury about numerous other instances of Daniels’s sexually inappropriate behavior. E. testified that on at least one occasion Daniels put his face in E.’s breasts when she was 15 or 16. E. also described an incident when she was 15 or 16 where Daniels “grind[ed]” on E.’s leg and vaginal area with an erection. E. also said that while she was in high school, Daniels frequently made sexual jokes and comments about E. and acted like E. was his wife when they were in public. On two occasions when E. was 16, she called Child Protective Services (CPS) to report Daniels. The first time she got scared and hung up. The second time, she gave a fake name (Jazz Thompson) and reported that

3 Daniels had been sexually abusing her for years, but ultimately was too fearful to pursue it. E. acknowledged having a foggy memory of some of Daniels’s acts, which she documented in a letter she wrote to police. E. attributed her memory problems to the trauma she experienced, noting she also has poor memory from when she was approximately 9 and 10 years old due to Celiac disease. The trial court also admitted E.’s private diaries from when she was approximately 16 to 19 years old. One entry stated, “ ‘My dad just f------ said he wants to grab my “T&A” and that they’re perfect. I asked him what that meant and he said, “tits and ass” and grabbed my ass.’ ” A separate entry stated, “my dad alternates between sexually abusing me and being mean to me . . . . He keeps asking me to shower with him saying he’ll pay me as much as I want.” Another stated, “my dad texted me that I make him hard and that when he was holding me, he told me I should appreciate that he’s not playing with my nipples.” E.’s diaries also mentioned her mental health struggles, repeatedly referencing self-harm and suicide. The diaries also described sexual abuse from five other men. Texts exchanged between Daniels and E. from late 2019 and early 2020 were also admitted. In these messages Daniels commented about E.’s body and sent her sexually explicit material. For example, in response to a picture of E., Daniels said, “ ‘[o]h damn, that’s hot,’ ” and E.’s “ ‘eyes look stunning.’ ” Other examples include a message where Daniels attached a dildo meme and asked E. if she needed one. Another text from Daniels stated that a link to “ ‘Welcome to Anal Sex 101’ ” is what every teen wants for Christmas.

4 Brother testified, describing an inappropriate relationship between Daniels and E. starting when E. was around 12 or 13 years old. Daniels and E. would spend long hours together late into the night, they made explicit sexual jokes, and when Daniels arrived home from work, he would give E. long hugs and rest his hand on her buttocks. Brother stated Daniels’s strange and uncomfortable acts were normalized through repetition, he asked E. about it numerous times when she was 18, and once E. finally confirmed the inappropriate relationship, Brother reported it to the police. Mother testified as well, stating Daniels started spending an inordinate amount of time with E. when she was 12 or 13. Mother noticed that when E. was 15 or 16 Daniels would frequently graze E.’s buttocks and breasts after long embraces. Mother also told the jury about an incident when E. was 16 or 17 where Daniels and E. were watching a movie behind a closed door and when Mother entered the room “it appeared [to her] that they both jumped apart, like you would expect to see maybe two teenagers do.” By the time E. started high school, Mother began worrying that Daniels was treating E. as his wife, and she confronted Daniels about it when E. was around 16 to 18 years old. Mother explained that Daniels’s acts were gradual, and she credited Daniels’s innocent explanations while doubting herself. Mother confirmed that in hindsight, Daniels’s behavior was obviously inappropriate. The People also offered expert testimony from forensic interviewer, Christina Schultz.

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People v. Daniels CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-daniels-ca41-calctapp-2025.