People v. Mariscal

201 Cal. Rptr. 3d 918, 247 Cal. App. 4th 403, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 383
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 4th District
DecidedMay 11, 2016
DocketE063305
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 201 Cal. Rptr. 3d 918 (People v. Mariscal) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 4th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Mariscal, 201 Cal. Rptr. 3d 918, 247 Cal. App. 4th 403, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 383 (Cal. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

RAMIREZ, P.J.

*406Prosecutors filed an information charging defendant and appellant, Omar Mariscal, with five counts of raping his daughter (Pen.Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2), counts 1-5) when she was 15 years old and three counts of committing lewd and lascivious conduct against her when she was 10 years old (§ 288, subd. (a),1 counts 6-8). The last paragraph of the information, which appears under the heading and substantive offense allegation for the count 8 lewd conduct charge, alleged "in the commission of the above offense, the said defendant, OMAR MARISCAL, personally inflicted great bodily injury upon a person ... within the meaning of Penal Code section 667.61, subdivision (d)(6)."

At the preliminary hearing and at trial, the prosecution presented testimony that the victim had become pregnant and given birth to a child as a result of one of the rape offenses. At trial, the jury heard evidence the victim suffered extreme pain while giving birth. At the close of evidence, the trial court instructed the jury that if it found defendant guilty of one of the rape charges, it must decide whether it is also true defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim in committing the crime. The court instructed the jury that committing rape does not by itself constitute inflicting great bodily injury and great bodily injury "may or may not be established by pregnancy." The *920jury found defendant guilty on all counts and found he did personally inflict great bodily injury on the victim in committing a rape offense. On November 6, 2014, after the verdict but before sentencing, the trial court held an ex parte hearing and found the "[i]nformation incorrectly reflects the leading charge for [the] enhancement," ordered the great bodily injury allegation in count 8 stricken, and added the allegation to the rape counts.

The trial court sentenced defendant to a term of 25 years to life in state prison on count 1 under the version of the "One Strike" law (§ 667.61 ) that took effect on September 9, 2010, after the offenses occurred. The court also *407imposed consecutive upper term sentences of eight years for the other four rape counts (counts 2-5) and consecutive two-year terms (one-third the midterm) for each of the lewd conduct counts (counts 6-8). Defendant's total prison term is a determinate term of 38 years plus an indeterminate term of 25 years to life.

On appeal, defendant challenges the sentence on count 1 on two grounds. First, he contends the trial court erred by sentencing him under the One Strike law on count 1 because the information did not allege he inflicted great bodily injury in committing any of the rape counts. Second, he contends the trial court erred by sentencing him to 25 years to life on count 1 because the version of the statute in effect at the time of the offense called for a term of 15 years to life. The People respond sentencing defendant under section 667.61 was proper, but concede the trial court sentenced defendant under the wrong version of the statute.

We conclude the trial court did not err by sentencing defendant under the One Strike law, but defendant must be resentenced on count 1 to a term of 15 years to life.

I

BACKGROUND

A. Factual Background

Jane Doe testified her father began molesting her when she was 10 years old. She told the jury, "At first it just started off with him playing with me, tickling me, and then just his hands started going in different places and I knew that it wasn't right." She testified on one occasion defendant touched her breast under her bra. He kissed her on her lips on another occasion. Another time, he touched her vagina and buttocks under her clothing. Defendant stopped molesting Jane when she was 11 and did not resume until she turned 15 years old.

When Jane turned 15, defendant began raping her. According to Jane, the first time, defendant "grabbed me and he pushed me to the bed." He told her to stay still and "it wasn't going to hurt" and then started "touching everything," took her pants off, and penetrated her vagina with his penis. Jane testified he raped her approximately 10 more times.

In May 2010, Jane learned she was pregnant. She testified she had not had sexual intercourse with anyone other than defendant. On October 23, 2010, Jane gave birth after 12 hours of painful labor. A criminalist with the *408California Department of Justice testified, based on genetic analysis, there is a better than 99.99 percent chance defendant is the father of Jane's child.

B. Procedural Background

At a preliminary hearing on August 14, 2014, the prosecution put on evidence defendant molested Jane on at least two occasions and raped her between five and 10 times. The prosecution did not present any evidence of great bodily harm in relation to the lewd conduct counts. The testifying deputy said only that Jane reported *921defendant had touched her breasts and her vagina, both over and under her clothing. The prosecution also presented testimony that one of the incidents of rape resulted in Jane's pregnancy and the birth of a child.

On August 27, 2014, the prosecution filed an eight-count information against defendant. In counts 1 through 5, the prosecution alleged defendant raped Jane five times between June 2009 and June 2010, when Jane was 15 years old. In counts 6 through 8, the prosecution alleged defendant committed three lewd and lascivious acts against Jane between June 2004 and June 2005, when Jane was 10 years old. In the last paragraph of the information, under the heading and substantive allegations of count 8, the prosecution also alleged "in the commission of the above offense, the said defendant, OMAR MARISCAL, personally inflicted great bodily injury upon a person, in violation of Penal Code sections 12022.53, 12022.7 and 12022.8, within the meaning of Penal Code section 667.61, subdivision (d)(6)." The information does not describe the injury or how defendant inflicted it.

The court held a jury trial beginning on October 15, 2014. The prosecution elicited testimony from Jane that she became pregnant by defendant and she experienced extreme pain during a 12-hour labor. She described the pain as being a 10 on a scale of one to 10. The trial court instructed the jury: "If you find the defendant guilty of one of the rape charges that led to pregnancy in 1 through 5, you must then decide whether the People have proved the additional allegation that the defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on Jane during the commission of one of those crimes. Great bodily injury means significant or substantial physical injury. It is an injury that is greater than minor or moderate harm. Committing the crime of rape is not by itself the infliction of great bodily injury. Great bodily injury may or may not be established by pregnancy. You are the exclusive judges of whether the defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury." (See CALCRIM No. 3160.) The trial court did not instruct the jury on great bodily injury in relation to counts 6 through 8.

The jury returned a guilty verdict as to all eight counts.

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Bluebook (online)
201 Cal. Rptr. 3d 918, 247 Cal. App. 4th 403, 2016 Cal. App. LEXIS 383, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mariscal-calctapp4d-2016.