People v. Melillo CA4/1

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 29, 2024
DocketD082358
StatusUnpublished

This text of People v. Melillo CA4/1 (People v. Melillo 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. Melillo CA4/1, (Cal. Ct. App. 2024).

Opinion

Filed 5/29/24 P. v. Melillo 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D082358

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SCE402675)

WILLIAM MICHAEL MELILLO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Albert T. Harutunian III, Judge. Affirmed. Michael A. Taibi and Everett L. Skillman for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Eric A. Swenson, Elana W. Miller and Maxine Hart, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. A jury convicted William Michael Melillo of one count of lewd act upon

a child (Pen. Code,1 § 288, subd. (a)). The trial court sentenced him to the lower term of three years. Melillo appeals this judgment of conviction and claims four assignments of error. We reorder his claims slightly as follows: (1) his ex-wife’s testimony was inherently improbable; (2) the court erred in admitting statements Melillo made to police; (3) the court improperly excluded evidence Melillo considered exculpatory; and (4) there is not substantial evidence to prove Melillo’s intent to sexually exploit a child. We reject these claimed errors and affirm the judgment. FACTUAL BACKGROUND Melillo awoke on June 27, 2020 at around seven in the morning and checked the baby monitor for his two-year-old child (Child). Melillo usually let his wife sleep in. After waking, he went into the restroom to read cartoon pornography and manually stimulate himself. He did not climax in the bathroom because he takes a long time to reach completion. Melillo testified that the act of manual stimulation, not the climax, is the satisfying part of the act for him. He then got Child out of her bed and took her downstairs for breakfast and to watch television. With his arm around Child on the couch, Melillo put his hand in his pants with his erect penis. Melillo expressed a desire to “cum,” before directing Child to open her mouth. Melillo explained that he often had a hand in his pants because he’s “usually itchy,” and also that he easily gets aroused and erect. Melillo explained that he directed Child to open her mouth because he thought she might have something in her mouth although he had not seen her put anything in her mouth while they were on the couch.

1 Future undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 He told police he had previously become erect while cuddling with and wrestling with Child; he attributed his arousal around Child to a lack of intimacy with his wife. Melillo further explained that Child viewed his penis as a toy and tried to grab and touch it multiple times. He described his penis as “a monster and just randomly does things that [he doesn’t] want it to do.” Nevertheless, Melillo asserts that he never touched Child inappropriately. Melillo’s wife, V.M., awoke and heard Melillo moaning and Child yelling. She got out of bed, opened the bedroom door, walked to an interior balcony and saw Melillo masturbating with his right hand and holding Child’s arm with his left. V.M. heard Child yelling and saw her trying to escape Melillo’s grasp. She heard Melillo direct Child to open her mouth and heard him say, “[l]et me cum in your mouth.” She also heard him say, “[c]ome on, [Child]. I need this.” V.M. was uncertain whether she was wearing her glasses when she observed the incident from a distance between 15 and 20 feet away from Melillo and Child, however, she had no difficulty describing actions 17.5 feet away from the witness stand at trial, even without her glasses. She confronted Melillo, then fainted. Melillo called for emergency services. Paramedics responded and attended to her injuries; when V.M. described what she witnessed, paramedics summoned the police. Within twenty minutes of the incident, police officers arrived and began talking with Melillo and his wife. They spoke with V.M. while she received treatment in the ambulance and with Melillo as he sat on his lawn. Following their conversation with Melillo, the police arrested him, took him

to the station, and advised him of his Miranda2 rights, twice. Initially Melillo requested an attorney, then elected to continue speaking with police before again invoking his right to counsel and ending the interview.

2 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda). 3 DISCUSSION 1. His Wife’s Testimony Was Not Inherently Improbable Although Melillo’s argument focuses largely on issues of credibility, the crux of his claimed error hinges on whether his wife’s testimony was inherently improbable. As Melillo correctly notes, a judgment must be reversed if it is “based upon evidence inherently improbable.” (People v. Pearson (1969) 70 Cal.2d 218, 221 (Pearson).) He functionally argues that his (now) ex-wife’s testimony is “inherently improbable” because her view could have been partially obstructed, she was not wearing her glasses, and the television was on. He also points to her medication for depression and fainting after the incident. However, he makes no argument for why her depression medication or her fainting are relevant to the probability of her testimony; accordingly, we see no need to discuss either. Melillo attacks V.M.’s credibility by asserting she had a motive to fabricate because they were headed towards a divorce. Finally, in his reply briefing Melillo argues, for the first time, that his wife’s lack of testimony to the lasting effects of child sexual abuse makes her testimony inherently improbable. We find these arguments unavailing. The law upon which Melillo relies, Pearson, supra, does not advance his position. Pearson clarifies that “ ‘ “ ‘[c]onflicts and even testimony which is subject to justifiable suspicion do not justify the reversal of a judgment, for it is the exclusive province of the trial judge or jury to determine the credibility of a witness and the truth or falsity of the facts upon which a determination depends.’ ” ’ ” (Pearson, supra, 70 Cal.2d at p. 221, italics added.) Further, “ ‘ “ ‘testimony which merely discloses unusual circumstances’ ” ’ ” does not fall within the category of inherently improbable. (Ibid.) The jury was instructed to consider the credibility of witnesses, and to evaluate conflicting

4 evidence; given their conviction, it’s clear they found V.M. more credible than Melillo. In arguing a motive to fabricate, Melillo asks us to do away with the jury’s determinations regarding V.M.’s credibility, which is not the proper provenance of an appellate court such as ours. While we cannot make determinations about his wife’s credibility, we can evaluate whether her testimony was inherently improbable. We find nothing improbable about V.M.’s testimony. The testimony she offered aligned very closely with Melillo’s own admissions to the police officers and on the stand. She observed Melillo’s masturbating with his right hand and holding Child with his left; Melillo admitted his hand was inside his pants, his penis was erect, and he was holding Child. She heard Melillo tell Child he wanted to “cum” and directing her to open her mouth; Melillo admitted stating “I wish I could cum” and to subsequently telling Child to open her mouth. Melillo himself confirmed that his testimony lines up almost identically to his wife’s.

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People v. Melillo CA4/1, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-melillo-ca41-calctapp-2024.