People v. Guardado

40 Cal. App. 4th 757, 47 Cal. Rptr. 2d 81, 95 Daily Journal DAR 15768, 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9136, 1995 Cal. App. LEXIS 1160
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 30, 1995
DocketH013262
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 40 Cal. App. 4th 757 (People v. Guardado) 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. Guardado, 40 Cal. App. 4th 757, 47 Cal. Rptr. 2d 81, 95 Daily Journal DAR 15768, 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9136, 1995 Cal. App. LEXIS 1160 (Cal. Ct. App. 1995).

Opinion

Opinion

MIHARA, J.

Defendant was convicted of two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and one count of possession of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (b)), and an allegation that he had suffered a prior serious felony conviction was found true (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a)). He was committed to state prison for 15 years. On appeal, he challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support one of the two lewd and lascivious conduct counts. He also challenges the trial court’s orders that he make restitution to the victim and undergo an acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) test. We find the evidence sufficient, but we conclude that the court’s order that defendant undergo an AIDS test was unauthorized and strike that order. In addition, we find that the trial court’s order that defendant pay restitution is not a valid restitution order.

Facts

About midnight on July 30, 1993, Officer Luu Pham observed a vehicle parked in a dark area on the side of a road. He shined his headlights on the vehicle and saw two people in it. The man in the driver’s seat seemed to be *760 hunched down, but, when the headlights of Pham’s vehicle illuminated him, he sat up. Pham asked the man to roll down his window, and the man did so. This man was defendant. Pham saw smoke coming out of the vehicle, and this smoke smelled like marijuana smoke. By illuminating the inside of the vehicle with his flashlight, Pham could see that defendant’s “pants were down.” Pham asked defendant what was wrong, and defendant said that his car would not start. Then, defendant turned the key in the ignition, and the car “started right up.” The passenger in the car was a 12-year-old girl named Melinda. Pham spoke to her, and she told him that defendant had made her touch his penis. Melinda explained that defendant had pulled his pants down, and then taken her hand and placed it on his penis.

Melinda subsequently revealed that defendant had kissed her and touched her breasts on a prior occasion. Defendant was charged by information with two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and one count of possession of marijuana (Health & Saf. Code, § 11357, subd. (b)), and it was also alleged that he had suffered a prior serious felony conviction (Pen. Code, § 667, subd. (a)). He was convicted of all charges, and the allegation that he had suffered a prior serious felony conviction was found true. He was committed to state prison for 15 years. The trial court ordered that defendant make restitution to Melinda and submit to an AIDS test. Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal.

Discussion

A. Count 2: Sufficiency of the Evidence

Defendant challenges the trial court’s denial of his Penal Code section 1118.1 motion with respect to the earlier of the two incidents. 1 He acknowledges that this challenge is simply an assertion that the evidence was insufficient to support this conviction. “When the sufficiency of the evidence is challenged on appeal, the court must review the whole record in the light most favorable to the judgment to determine whether it contains substantial evidence—i.e., evidence that is credible and of solid value—from which a rational trier of fact could have found the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” (People v. Green (1980) 27 Cal.3d 1, 55 [164 Cal.Rptr. 1, 609 P.2d 468].) “ ‘[T]he relevant question is whether, after viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, any rational trier of fact could have found the essential elements of the crime beyond a reasonable doubt.’ ” (People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 576 [162 Cal.Rptr. 431, 606 P.2d 738], quoting Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, *761 318-319 [61 L.Ed.2d 560, 573, 99 S.Ct. 2781], italics in original.) “An appellate court must view the evidence in the light most favorable to respondent and presume in support of the judgment the existence of every fact the trier could reasonably deduce from the evidence.” (People v. Reilly (1970) 3 Cal.3d 421, 425 [90 Cal.Rptr. 417, 475 P.2d 649]; accord People v. Pensinger (1991) 52 Cal.3d 1210, 1237 [278 Cal.Rptr. 640, 805 P.2d 899].) “[Circumstantial evidence is as sufficient as direct evidence to support a conviction.” (People v. Bloom (1989) 48 Cal.3d 1194, 1208 [259 Cal.Rptr. 669, 774 P.2d 698].)

The evidence on this count came in at trial through two sources. Melinda testified that she had been sleeping on the couch at “Dawn’s house” when defendant kissed her and touched her in a way she did not like. She did not remember at trial what part of her body defendant touched, or whether he kissed her on the mouth. She told him to stop, and she went back to sleep. Evidence of this offense also came in through Officer Gunther Rydell. Rydell testified that Melinda had spoken with him just before the preliminary examination on August 31, 1993, and had revealed for the first time that defendant had touched her at “Dawn’s house.” Melinda testified at trial that she had spoken to Rydell about this incident when it was fresh in her mind, and that she had told Rydell the truth. Rydell’s testimony was admitted, over defendant’s hearsay objection, under Evidence Code section 1237 as “past recollection recorded.” Rydell testified that he recorded Melinda’s August 31, 1993, statements to him and produced a supplemental report based thereon while the statements were fresh in his mind. Melinda told Rydell that “she was sleeping on the couch at Dawn’s house and she was awakened when the defendant came into the room and kissed her on the mouth.” Melinda described this kiss “as a ‘French kiss.’ ” Melinda explained to Rydell that defendant then placed his hand under her shirt and touched her “boobs.”

Defendant makes an appellate challenge to the admission of Rydell’s testimony on the ground that it was inadmissible under Evidence Code section 1235 because it was not inconsistent with Melinda’s testimony. This contention has no conceivable connection with the ruling defendant purports to challenge. Rydell’s testimony was not admitted under Evidence Code section 1235 as an inconsistent statement, but under Evidence Code section 1237 as past recollection recorded. Defendant makes absolutely no claim that Rydell’s testimony was inadmissible under Evidence Code section 1237.

Defendant’s assertion that the evidence is insufficient to support this count also lacks substance. “Any person who shall willfully and lewdly commit any lewd or lascivious act. . . upon or with the body, or any part or *762

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Bluebook (online)
40 Cal. App. 4th 757, 47 Cal. Rptr. 2d 81, 95 Daily Journal DAR 15768, 95 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 9136, 1995 Cal. App. LEXIS 1160, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-guardado-calctapp-1995.