People v. Maharaj

204 Cal. App. 4th 641, 139 Cal. Rptr. 3d 140, 2012 WL 982796, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 344
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMarch 23, 2012
DocketNo. C066059
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 204 Cal. App. 4th 641 (People v. Maharaj) 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. Maharaj, 204 Cal. App. 4th 641, 139 Cal. Rptr. 3d 140, 2012 WL 982796, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 344 (Cal. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

Opinion

HOCH, J.

—A jury convicted defendant Kesh Maharaj of multiple counts of lewd and lascivious conduct involving the same victim, a young girl under the age of 14 years. In count one, defendant was convicted of forcible lewd and lascivious act on a child under the age of 14 years (Pen. Code, § 288, [643]*643subd. (b)).1 In counts two, three, and four, defendant was convicted of aggravated sexual assault on a child under the age of 14 years (§ 269). In counts five through thirteen, defendant was convicted of lewd and lascivious touching of a child under the age of 14 years (§ 288, subd. (a)). Count fourteen, alleging criminal threat (§ 422), was dismissed upon motion of the People after the jury was unable to agree on the charge. In counts fifteen and sixteen, defendant was convicted of exhibiting harmful material to a minor (§ 288.2, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced defendant to a determinate term of 33 years four months in state prison in addition to an indeterminate term of 45 years to life.

On appeal, defendant focuses on counts one through four. Defendant contends (1) the trial court erred in denying his motion to remove a juror who expressed animosity toward defense counsel and fell asleep during the first day of trial, (2) insufficient evidence supports defendant’s conviction of aggravated sexual assault as alleged in count four, (3) his due process rights were violated for lack of notice of the conduct for which he was charged in count four, (4) the jury should have been instructed on the lesser included offense of nonforcible lewd act (§ 288, subd. (a)) in addition to the forcible lewd act on a child (§288, subd. (b)) charged in count one, (5) the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence in the form of testimony by a friend of the victim’s mother, (6) the court failed to properly state the reasons for imposing consecutive sentences for counts two through four, and (7) the court erroneously imposed consecutive sentences for his four forcible sex offenses in counts one through four in violation of section 667.6, subdivision (c).

For the following reasons, we affirm the judgment. First, with regard to the juror removal issue, the record supports the trial court’s conclusion that the juror did not need to be removed for bias or inability to perform the functions of a juror. Second, there is sufficient evidence to support defendant’s conviction of aggravated sexual assault alleged in count four. Third, defendant’s claimed lack of notice of the sexual penetration charge in count four also fails because defendant was put on notice of the facts giving rise to count four’s allegation through the victim’s testimony at the preliminary hearing. Fourth, defendant’s contention that the jury should have been instructed on the lesser included offense of nonforcible lewd act in addition to the forcible lewd act charged in count one must be rejected because there is no evidence to support a nonforcible lewd act instruction. Fifth, the trial court did not err in denying the motion for new trial because defendant failed to demonstrate that the witness was unavailable. Sixth, defendant failed to object to the imposition of consecutive sentences for counts two, three, and four on the grounds that the trial court failed to state the requisite findings. Therefore, this issue has been [644]*644forfeited. Seventh, the trial court properly imposed consecutive sentences for counts one through four based on the fact that the four counts are included in section 667.6, subdivision (e), requiring mandatory consecutive sentences for each of defendant’s four forcible sex offenses.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Prosecution Evidence

When J.2 was 12 years old, defendant regularly picked her up from school and took her to his house in Stockton. Defendant is a distant relative of J.’s mother. J. refers to defendant as “Uncle.”

Defendant told J.’s father that she was going to babysit defendant’s son. The first time she went to defendant’s house, J. “felt weird” and did not want to go back. However, her father made her return.

One day when defendant’s son was still at school, defendant lured J. upstairs with the promise of a gift. Once they were inside the bedroom, defendant locked the door, turned on the television, and told J. to lie down on the bed. Defendant pushed her down on the bed, then “laid beside [her] and started dry humping [her], like, on the side.” J. recounted that defendant “started, like, humping me on my clothes. Like, I was wearing my clothes on. He had his clothes on, too, but he like ... [f] ... [][].. . was going back and forth” with his “private part.” When defendant was done, he went to the bathroom and then left to pick up his son.

Defendant molested J. again while she was still 12 years old. As before, defendant enticed J. to the upstairs bedroom with the false promise of a gift. Defendant again “dry humped” her. J. told him that she did not want to do that, and defendant responded: “Oh, come on.” He told her “[t]o just do it.”

On the next occasion, defendant again promised a gift for J. Once J. entered the bedroom, defendant took off her bra and panties, and held her “like a baby.” She protested, but defendant told her: “Just do it.” Defendant pushed her onto the bed, pulled her in, and licked her vaginal area. Defendant took off his clothes and laid himself beside her. J. was scared and felt weird. Defendant began “humping [her] with his penis.” He then spread her legs while she attempted to keep them together. Defendant penetrated her vagina with his fingers. Defendant’s fingers hurt her when he moved them in and out of her vagina. He then put his penis “a little bit” into her vagina.

[645]*645Defendant put lubricant onto his penis and on J.’s anus. He told her “that this is going to make [her] like slip and it’s not going to hurt. . . .” J. began to cry and defendant said, “Don’t cry, it’s going to be okay. Don’t cry.” Defendant positioned J. on her hands and knees and penetrated her anus with his penis. She told him that it hurt, “[i]t hurt bad,” and pushed him away. Defendant then got on top of her and ejaculated onto her stomach.

Once J. got home, she took a shower. She saw blood when she had a bowel movement and urinated. Although she told her mother about the bleeding, she did not tell her about being molested because defendant had threatened to kill her and her mother if she told anyone. J. believed defendant would carry out the threat.

When J. was 13 years old, defendant took her to a bedroom with a king-size bed. Defendant removed J.’s clothes and carried her to the bed. He told her to relax and licked her vaginal area.

J. babysat for defendant over the course of approximately six months. “Most of the times” that she babysat, defendant sexually molested her. J. estimated that defendant molested her more than 20 times while she was 12 and 13 years old. When she told him not to do it, he would force her. Every time defendant molested her, he would lock the door to the bedroom. On occasions when J. did not want to take off her clothes, defendant would threaten her and she would get scared. During the 20 or more times that defendant molested her, he would fondle her breasts, insert his penis into her vagina and anus, ejaculate on her stomach or genitals, and then tell her to “go, like, wash it off.” Whenever defendant put his penis into her vagina, J. would try to push him away.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
204 Cal. App. 4th 641, 139 Cal. Rptr. 3d 140, 2012 WL 982796, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 344, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-maharaj-calctapp-2012.