People v. Vasquez

223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 24, 14 Cal. App. 5th 1019, 2017 WL 3712201, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 751
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedAugust 29, 2017
DocketD069298
StatusPublished
Cited by23 cases

This text of 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 24 (People v. Vasquez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Vasquez, 223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 24, 14 Cal. App. 5th 1019, 2017 WL 3712201, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 751 (Cal. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

AARON, J.

*1022I.

INTRODUCTION

"[D]emonstrative evidence [is] offered to help a jury understand expert testimony or other substantive evidence...." ( People v. Duenas (2012) 55 Cal.4th 1, 20, 144 Cal.Rptr.3d 820, 281 P.3d 887 ( Duenas ).) Demonstrative *1023evidence is "not offered as substantive evidence, but as a tool to aid the jury in understanding the substantive evidence." ( Id. at p. 25, 144 Cal.Rptr.3d 820, 281 P.3d 887.)

In this case, during the prosecutor's redirect examination of an alleged child molestation victim (P.C.), the trial court permitted the People to display to the jury an approximately twenty-foot long "timeline" of the alleged molestations that a therapist *28created with P.C. in preparation for a prior proceeding in this case. The timeline contained detailed statements describing the alleged abuse written by the therapist at P.C.'s direction, together with dates and photographs of P.C. at various ages.1 The court also permitted the prosecutor to directly question P.C. at trial about statements contained on the timeline.

On appeal, defendant Michael Vasquez contends that the trial court erred in permitting the jury to view the timeline and erred in admitting the related testimony. The People contend that the timeline was properly displayed to the jury as demonstrative evidence akin to a "map[ ], chart[ ], [or] diagram [ ]...." (Quoting People v. Mills (2010) 48 Cal.4th 158, 207, 106 Cal.Rptr.3d 153, 226 P.3d 276 ( Mills ).) The People further argue that the court "properly allowed P.C. to directly explain some of the things shown on the timeline so the jury would understand what they were seeing."

We conclude that the trial court committed clear error in permitting the jury to view the timeline and allowing P.C. to read statements from the timeline into evidence. The timeline did not constitute demonstrative evidence that could properly be displayed to the jury in order to assist the jury in its understanding of P.C.'s testimony. Rather, the timeline contained inadmissible out-of-court statements that were improperly offered for their truth and to bolster P.C.'s credibility.

The error requires reversal of Vasquez's molestation convictions. To begin with, a prior trial resulted in a mistrial after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. The evidence presented to the juries at both trials was similar, with the notable exception that the timeline was presented only to the jury at the trial that resulted in the guilty verdicts.2 Further, this case was essentially a credibility contest between the victims3 and Vasquez, and the defense presented evidence from which a reasonable jury could find that the victims had a motive to fabricate the allegations.4 Finally, the prosecutor prominently *1024featured the highly inflammatory timeline during his closing argument, displaying it to the jury, making repeated reference to it, and urging the jury to rely on it as substantive evidence. Under these circumstances, we are compelled to reverse the judgment and remand the matter for a new trial.5

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

*29A. Factual background6

1. The People's evidence

a. Vasquez's sexual abuse of E.C.

Vasquez began living with Patricia J. (Patricia) and her two daughters, E.C. and P.C., in mid-2004 or early 2005. When Vasquez moved in, E.C. was approximately nine years old and P.C. was approximately five or six years old.7 The family lived together in a one-bedroom mobile home until September 2009.

E.C. would often crawl into bed with Patricia and Vasquez during the night or in the morning. When Patricia would get up, E.C. would stay in bed alone with Vasquez. During this time, Vasquez would often hug E.C. from behind. On several occasions, Vasquez touched E.C.'s breasts underneath her shirt and training bra, and grabbed and pulled her nipples. E.C. would pretend to be asleep. On some of these occasions, E.C. could feel Vasquez's erect penis. E.C. felt scared and uncomfortable and stopped going into Patricia and Vasquez's bed.

*1025b. Vasquez's sexual abuse of P.C.

P.C. would also occasionally crawl into Patricia and Vasquez's bed, and would stay in the bed with Vasquez after Patricia left. When P.C. was five or six years old, Vasquez would rub her thighs when she was alone in bed with him. When P.C. was in second or third grade and around seven years old, Vasquez also began touching P.C.'s breasts and the outside of her vagina under her clothing.

By the time that P.C. was in fifth or sixth grade, Vasquez would insert his fingers inside her vagina. Sometimes the penetration would hurt, and P.C. would tell him to stop. Also while P.C. was in fifth grade, Vasquez would rub his penis against P.C.'s vagina with her pants off. Occasionally, Vasquez would ejaculate while doing this. Vasquez also would kiss or lick P.C.'s vagina. P.C. also began touching Vasquez's penis, causing it to become erect. The molestations took place frequently, often on weekends when Patricia was not home.

As P.C. got older, she became "grossed out" by the molestations. The incidents of abuse decreased until they stopped altogether around the time P.C. was in eighth grade.

c. E.C. tells Patricia that she witnessed Vasquez molesting P.C.

When the girls were young, Vasquez would frequently play a game called "Claws" with them. Vasquez would pretend to be a bear or monster, chase the girls, and tickle them. One time while Vasquez was playing the game with the girls, E.C. went to the bedroom to get a pillow. When she returned to the living room, P.C. was lying on top of Vasquez.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
223 Cal. Rptr. 3d 24, 14 Cal. App. 5th 1019, 2017 WL 3712201, 2017 Cal. App. LEXIS 751, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-vasquez-calctapp5d-2017.