People v. Smith

198 Cal. App. 4th 415, 129 Cal. Rptr. 3d 910, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 1065
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedAugust 12, 2011
DocketNos. C062191, C063545
StatusPublished
Cited by96 cases

This text of 198 Cal. App. 4th 415 (People v. Smith) 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. Smith, 198 Cal. App. 4th 415, 129 Cal. Rptr. 3d 910, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 1065 (Cal. Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

Opinion

NICHOLSON, J.

Defendant was convicted by jury of molesting a victim from the time she was eight years old until she turned 15. Sentenced to 18 years in state prison, he appeals.

On appeal, defendant raises issues concerning (1) the statute of limitations, (2) jury instructions, (3) restitution, and (4) sentencing. Except for the need to make some minor modifications to the judgment, we find no merit in defendant’s contentions of error. We therefore modify and affirm the judgment.

PROCEDURE

The district attorney charged defendant by information with one count of committing a lewd act on a child under 14 (count I; committed between Jan. [420]*4201, 1987, and Aug. 10, 1988; Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a))1 and one count of continuous sexual abuse (count II; committed between Aug. 11, 1988, and Aug. 9, 1993; § 288.5). A jury found defendant guilty of both counts.

The trial court sentenced defendant to the upper term of 16 years in state prison on the continuous sexual abuse count and a consecutive two years (one-third the middle term) on the lewd act count, for a total state prison term of 18 years. The court also ordered various fines and fees, as well as victim restitution in an amount to be determined later.

Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal from the judgment. (Case No. C062191.)

After a hearing on the amount of victim restitution, the trial court ordered defendant to pay the victim $753,265, consisting of $3,265 in economic damages and $750,000 in noneconomic damages. The court noted that a total of $79,210.68 had been lodged with the court on behalf of defendant. The court ordered that the funds lodged with the court, including interest accrued, be distributed to the victim. The court also issued an abstract of judgment and writ of execution for the total amount of restitution ($753,265).

Defendant filed a timely notice of appeal from the restitution order. (Case No. C063545.)

We consolidated the two appeals.

FACTS

The victim, Jane Doe, was bom on August 10, 1979. She met defendant at the age of eight, in 1988, when he started dating her mother. Doe’s mother and defendant were married in 1992 and divorced in 2000.

When Doe was eight years old, defendant routinely babysat her at his trailer while Doe’s mother worked. Dropped off at defendant’s trailer after school, Doe would stay with defendant until Doe’s mother picked her up in the evening. During Doe’s visits to defendant’s trailer, defendant would lift her onto the kitchen counter and touch Doe’s chest, stomach, neck, and back, over and under her clothing, eventually doing so when Doe was wearing her underwear only. Defendant also digitally penetrated Doe’s vagina when she was eight years old.

[421]*421The molestation continued after Doe turned nine years old and beyond. As Doe recalls, “[b]asically every day” when she was alone with defendant, she was molested. He had her take off all of her clothes, and he touched her, grabbing her waist, stomach, and chest.

Doe moved into an apartment with her mother and defendant when she was 10 years old, and the molestations continued there, during the day, when Doe was alone with defendant. When she was 12 years old, defendant began digitally penetrating her vagina regularly.

Doe started homeschooling when she was 11 years old and continued with homeschooling through high school. The homeschooling was defendant’s idea, and defendant was responsible for her during school time.

When Doe was 13 years old, she and her mother moved with defendant to a home in lone. Doe’s mother slept in the master bedroom, and defendant slept on a cot in the living room. As Doe grew through puberty, defendant focused more on her chest. Defendant routinely had Doe join him on the cot at night, both undressed. He touched her chest, buttocks, and vagina, while he had her touch his chest and stomach.

When Doe was 14 years old, defendant began orally copulating Doe, and, when Doe was 16 years old, defendant began penetrating Doe’s vagina with his penis, which occurred almost every day. During a trip to Disneyland-to celebrate Doe’s graduation from high school, defendant had Doe orally copulate him while Doe’s mother slept in the other bed.

Defendant took more than 800 naked pictures of Doe while she was a minor, starting when she was eight years old. He commonly destroyed the pictures after two or three weeks so that he would not get caught with them. One of the pictures, however, was found by defendant’s sister. It was admitted as evidence at trial.

After Doe turned 18 years old, she moved out of the house. However, defendant frequently visited her and had sexual relations with her. When Doe needed money, defendant paid her for sex acts. The encounters continued until November 2005, when Doe was 26 years old.

Defendant lived with his father from 1997 until about the time of his arrest. He sent pictures of Doe to Playboy and encouraged her to become a stripper. [422]*422When defendant’s sister was cleaning up their father’s house after his death, she found a naked picture of Doe and a printout of a Yahoo profile of a 15 year old. On the back of the printout was written, “moms with daughters lesbian chat room.”

In March 2006, Doe reported defendant’s conduct to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department. She told a detective, however, that defendant had never penetrated her vagina with his fingers or penis. At trial, she testified that she lied concerning this specific point because she “was not prepared to recollect the whole entire truth . . . .”

With the help of the detective, Doe made a pretext call to defendant. During the call, Doe told defendant she needed to talk to him because she had to deal with “some of the stuff that you did to me . . . .” Doe said; “I just want to know why you did some of the stuff you did to me in the past when I was a child.” Defendant responded: “I don’t know what to say at this point.” Defendant was evasive, so Doe said that he needed to talk to her or she would go to the authorities. Defendant said: “[Wjhat’s going to say you’re not going to go anyhow?” Defendant expressed discomfort with talking over the phone and said: “I just want to assure that it’s just you and me talking.” He wanted to be sure that their conversation was not being recorded.

Doe asked defendant, “Why did you start touching me when I was eight years old sexually and when I was a child and I didn’t know what the hell was going on?” Defendant replied: “I don’t know. It’s probably not what you want to hear, but I don’t know.” Doe asked why defendant had sexual intercourse with her, and defendant said he thought it sounded like she was reading from a paper. Doe again asked why defendant had done “things” to her, and defendant answered: “Well, I didn’t try to take advantage of you if that’s what you’re trying to say.”

Doe asked defendant why he had tried to have sex with her and why he touched her chest and orally copulated her. Defendant said: “There’s no explanation for anything that I can come up with right this instant. Or any other time.” Doe persisted in seeking an explanation, and defendant expressed further suspicion that she was being prompted.

Doe accused defendant of touching her with sexual intentions, and defendant said: “Well, I didn’t have sexual intentions with you, if that’s what you’re saying.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
198 Cal. App. 4th 415, 129 Cal. Rptr. 3d 910, 2011 Cal. App. LEXIS 1065, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-smith-calctapp-2011.