People v. Snow

116 Cal. Rptr. 2d 760, 96 Cal. App. 4th 239
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedMay 1, 2002
DocketD035655
StatusPublished

This text of 116 Cal. Rptr. 2d 760 (People v. Snow) 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. Snow, 116 Cal. Rptr. 2d 760, 96 Cal. App. 4th 239 (Cal. Ct. App. 2002).

Opinion

116 Cal.Rptr.2d 760 (2002)
96 Cal.App.4th 239

The PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent,
v.
Steven Markel SNOW, Defendant and Appellant.

No. D035655.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division One.

February 15, 2002.
Review Granted May 1, 2002.

*762 Patricia J. Ulibarri, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, San Diego, for Defendant and Appellant.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, David P. Druliner, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Carl H. Horst and Jeffrey J. Koch, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Certified for Partial Publication.[1]

*761 McDONALD, J.

A jury found appellant Steven Markel Snow guilty of one count of committing lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor under the age of 14. (Pen.Code, § 288, subd. (a).)[2] At a bifurcated trial the court found true that Snow:

1. had suffered two prior serious felony convictions (§ 288a, subd. (c)(1) and § 288, subd. (a)) within the meaning of sections 667, subdivision (a)(1) and 1192.7, subdivision (c)(6);
2. had suffered a prior conviction of a lewd act (§ 288, subd. (a)) under section 667.61, subdivisions (a), (c)(7) and (d)(1) (the one strike law);
3. had suffered two prior serious or violent felony convictions (§ 288a, subd. (c)(1) and § 288, subd. (a)) within the meaning of section 667, subdivisions (b)(i) (the three strikes law); and
4. was a habitual sex offender within the meaning of section 667.71, subdivisions (a), (c)(4) (the habitual sex offender law) because of a prior conviction of a lewd act (§ 288, subd. (a)).

The court sentenced Snow to 85 years to life, consisting of a 25-year-to-life term under the one strike law, which it then tripled under the three strikes law, plus a 10-year consecutive term for the two prior serious felony convictions. The court stayed under section 654 execution of sentence on the finding Snow was a habitual sex offender (§ 667.71). On appeal, Snow contends the trial court erred by admitting into evidence over his objection a videotape of the victim's conversation with a social worker and by imposing an unauthorized sentence.

I

FACTS

A. Prosecution Case

1. The Molestation

During the weekend of November 14, 1999, Angela D. and her five-year-old son, Joshua, were homeless. They were allowed to temporarily stay at an apartment occupied by Mr. Malcolm and Snow while *763 Angela looked for permanent shelter.[3] Malcolm arranged for Angela and Joshua to sleep in the bedroom.[4] November 15 was uneventful.

About 9:30 a.m. the following morning, Angela went to the bedroom and made several telephone calls seeking shelter. She placed Joshua in the living room to watch a videotape. Snow was also in the living room. Angela then returned to the bedroom, closed the door, and continued making telephone calls. While he was alone with Joshua, Snow orally copulated him.

About 9:42 a.m., Angela completed a telephone call, opened the door, and looked into the living room. She saw Snow kneeling in front of Joshua. Joshua's drawstring shorts and underwear were down and his penis was exposed. Joshua caught sight of Angela and ran to her, clinging to her and calling "mommy." Angela was unsure of what she saw and remained outwardly calm. She took Joshua to the bedroom and asked him what happened. He would not tell her anything except that he would be in trouble if he told her.

During the next hour, Joshua would not leave Angela's presence. When she and Joshua left the apartment, Snow followed them. Angela asked Snow why he was following them but Snow would not answer. Angela and Joshua stopped in front of a store and Snow stopped beside them. Angela asked Joshua whether something had happened that he needed to tell her, and then kneeled in front of Joshua and said, "Tell me what happened." Joshua replied, "Mommy, he sucked my peepee." Angela felt as though she would "freak out," but maintained her composure.

Angela and Joshua, followed by Snow, walked toward the house of a friend (Deanna), where Angela and Joshua stopped. Snow stopped at a nearby house from which people were moving and "got busy looking at some stuff in [the] yard." When Angela and Joshua entered Deanna's house, Joshua spontaneously told Deanna about Snow's molestation. Angela used Deanna's telephone to call a friend at Child Protective Services and tell her about the molestation; her friend advised her to call 911. Deanna asked that Angela not use their phone to call 911 because there were drugs in the house; Angela therefore walked to a nearby store from which she called police.

When police arrived, Angela told them what Joshua had told her. Police questioned Joshua and then transported Angela and Joshua to Children's Hospital. Ms. Davies, a licensed clinical social worker at the hospital, interviewed Joshua according to a standard protocol; the interview was videotaped, and a copy was admitted at trial after Snow's objection was overruled. Joshua told the social worker Snow had orally copulated him.

After the interview, a doctor performed an anal examination of Joshua and found no abnormalities. The doctor also collected fluoresced materials from Joshua's body using a sexual assault kit, collecting swab samples from his penis, anus, mouth, left thigh, left calf and right knee. The samples were later tested by Cellmark, a company specializing in DNA testing, and by the San Diego Police Department Crime Lab. The oral swabs produced a weak positive result for the presence of an enzyme associated with semen, although it *764 is not uncommon for saliva to produce a similar reaction. An amylase test was also performed.[5] Amylase was found in a sample taken from Joshua's left thigh.

The PCR (polymerase chain reaction) DNA comparison between Snow's DNA sample and the samples taken from Joshua's mouth and penis showed Snow's DNA type was present. Cellmark confirmed the match by comparing extracted DNA from the sample taken from Joshua's penis with Snow's DNA sample.[6]

2. Prior Molestations

In 1989 Snow was convicted of committing a lewd act on minor female Amber A. (§ 288, subd. (a)). In 1981 he was convicted of sexually assaulting minor female Courtney C. (§ 288a, subd. (c)(1)).

B. Defense

Snow denied having any sexual desire for Joshua and denied touching him. Several defense witnesses were called to impeach Angela.[7] The defense also introduced evidence that the version of the events given by Joshua to Officer Sherman was in part untruthful.[8]

A scientist criticized the testing done by the San Diego Police Department Crime Lab. He opined the presence of Snow's DNA on Joshua, as well as the amylase found on Joshua's thigh, could be attributable to benign explanations.

II[*]

III

ANALYSIS OF THE SENTENCE

Snow argues the court committed two distinct sentencing errors. First, he argues that his prior conviction under section 288a, subdivision (c)(1) does not qualify as a prior serious felony conviction under section 667, subdivision (a) or a prior serious or violent felony conviction under the three strikes law, and therefore it was error to use that prior conviction either to add the section 667, subdivision (a) enhancement to his sentence or to triple his sentence under the three strikes law.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
116 Cal. Rptr. 2d 760, 96 Cal. App. 4th 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-snow-calctapp-2002.