People v. Lara CA6

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedNovember 20, 2020
DocketH046775
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Lara CA6 (People v. Lara CA6) 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. Lara CA6, (Cal. Ct. App. 2020).

Opinion

Filed 11/20/20 P. v. Lara CA6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SIXTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

THE PEOPLE, H046775 (Santa Cruz County Plaintiff and Respondent, Super. Ct. No. 15CR00784)

v.

JUAN PACHECO LARA,

Defendant and Appellant.

A jury found appellant Juan Pacheco Lara guilty of 15 felony sex crimes and misdemeanor battery committed against two minor victims, and the trial court sentenced him to 129 years to life in prison. On appeal, Lara claims the trial court erred by excluding evidence of an alleged prior false claim of rape made by one of the victims, imposed an unlawful sentence on one of his lewd or lascivious act convictions, and awarded him insufficient presentence custody credit. The Attorney General agrees with Lara on his latter two claims. For the reasons explained below, we reject Lara’s claim of error regarding the trial court’s exclusion of the alleged prior false claim of rape. We agree with the parties on Lara’s other two claims. Accordingly, we correct Lara’s sentence on the lewd or lascivious act conviction and change the award of presentence custody credit. With these modifications, we affirm the judgment. I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Procedural Background On November 26, 2018, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney filed a second amended information (information) charging Lara with 17 sex crimes and child abuse involving two “Jane Doe” minors.1 Counts 1 through 10, 17, and 18 alleged sex crimes and child abuse against Jane Doe 1, collectively spanning from October 8, 2007, to October 24, 2014. Counts 11 through 16 alleged sex crimes against Jane Doe 2, each on or about or between September 29, 2012, and October 21, 2014. More specifically, counts 1 and 2 alleged forcible lewd or lascivious acts on Jane Doe 1, a child under age 14. (Pen. Code, §288, subd. (b)(1).)2 Counts 3, 7, 8, and 9 alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, rape of Jane Doe 1, who was under age 14 while Lara was more than 10 years older than her. (§ 269, subd. (a)(1).) Count 4 alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, oral copulation of Jane Doe 1, who was under age 14 while Lara was more than 10 years older than her. (§ 269, subd. (a)(4).) Count 5 alleged aggravated sexual assault of a child, sexual penetration of Jane Doe 1, who was under age 14 while Lara was more than 10 years older than her. (§ 269, subd. (a)(5).) Count 6 alleged assault with intent to commit rape, sodomy, or oral copulation of Jane Doe 1, who was under age 18. (§ 220, subd. (a)(2).) In the alternative to counts 7 through 9, count 10 alleged forcible rape of Jane Doe 1, who was a child of 14 years old or older. (§ 261, subd. (a)(2).) Counts 11 through 16 alleged a lewd or lascivious act on Jane Doe 2, a child under age 14. (§ 288, subd. (a).) Count 17 alleged a lewd or lascivious act on Jane Doe 1, a child who was 14 years old while Lara was at least 10 years older her. (§ 288, subd. (c)(1).) Count 18 alleged child abuse on Jane Doe 1. (§ 273a, subd. (a).) The

1 The information referred to the minor victims as “Jane Doe” and “Jane Doe 2.” We refer to them, respectively, as “Jane Doe 1” or “Doe 1” and “Jane Doe 2” or “Doe 2.” (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.90(b)(4).) 2 Unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 information also alleged that, as to counts 1 through 16, the crimes involved multiple victims and, as to counts 3 through 5, the victim was tied and bound. (§ 667.61, subds. (a), (b) & (e).) A jury heard evidence in December 2018 on the charges. On December 18, 2018, the jury found Lara guilty as charged on counts 1 through 9 and 12 through 17, and guilty of the lesser included offense of battery (§ 242) on count 18. In addition, the jury found true the multiple-victim allegations.3 Further, in accord with the trial court’s instructions, the jury found Lara not guilty on count 10 because it had found him guilty on at least one of the crimes charged in counts 7 through 9. The jury also found Lara not guilty on count 11. On June 13, 2019, the trial court sentenced Lara to a total of 129 years to life in prison, comprised of an indeterminate sentence totaling 120 years to life and a consecutive, determinate sentence totaling nine years. The indeterminate sentence included the following: consecutive 15-years-to-life terms on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9; and concurrent 15-years-to-life terms on counts 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16. The indeterminate sentence included seven years on count 6 and two years consecutive on count 17. The trial court also imposed a six-month county jail sentence for the misdemeanor battery conviction on count 18, with six months of credit for time served. The court gave Lara 1,307 actual days of credit plus 196 days of conduct credit for a total of 1,503 days of presentence credit.

3 The trial court did not instruct the jury on the allegations that Jane Doe 1 was tied and bound during the crimes charged in counts 3 through 5, and the jury did not return a finding on them. 3 B. Evidence Presented at Trial 1. Prosecution Evidence4 Jane Doe 1 is the daughter of Lara’s girlfriend, Candelaria.5 Doe 1 was born in October 1999. Doe 1 lived with her mother, her younger brother E.N., and younger sister N.L. All three children have different fathers, but the same mother, Candelaria. Lara is N.L.’s father. The fathers of Doe 1 and E.N. were not around. Lara started living with Doe 1 and her family before N.L. was born. Candelaria was often absent from the home because of work and frequently left her children at home alone. Candelaria and Lara had different work schedules, with Lara typically starting work in the afternoon and finishing during the night. Lara spent more time with the children than Candelaria and usually was at their apartment when he was not working. Jane Doe 2 was born in October 2000. From about September 2012, through December 2014, Doe 2 and her mother, Beatrice, rented a bedroom in a two-bedroom apartment occupied by Doe 1’s family. Lara did not reside in the apartment when Beatrice and Doe 2 first moved in, but he visited the apartment in the evening two or three times a week. Later, Lara started living at the apartment. He slept in the living room or the bedroom with Candelaria’s children. Beatrice became concerned about Lara’s attentiveness toward Doe 1. Doe 1 would sometimes wait up for Lara and they spent time together alone. Lara “would always have [Doe 1] on his lap.” Beatrice did not observe any inappropriate behavior between Lara and her daughter, Doe 2. However, Lara once gave Doe 2 a case for an iPod, which Beatrice told 4 In addition to the evidence described below, the jury heard from an expert on child abuse and child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome. That testimony is not relevant to the issues in this appeal. 5 We refer to the adult relatives of the victims by their first names to protect the victims’ identities. We refer to the minor relatives of the victims by their initials to protect the victims’ identities and the minors’ privacy interests. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rules 8.90(b)(4), (10) & (11).) 4 her to return. Lara also gave Doe 2 rides home from school without Beatrice’s permission. Beatrice told her daughter not to accept the rides. a. Jane Doe 1’s Reports of Molestation In October 2014, Doe 1 was a freshman in high school and turned 15 years old that month. She told a best friend that she had been sexually abused. The friend told a teacher. This disclosure prompted a meeting between Doe 1 and her school principal on October 24, 2014.

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People v. Lara CA6, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-lara-ca6-calctapp-2020.