People v. Wandrey

CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 7, 2022
DocketA161691
StatusPublished

This text of People v. Wandrey (People v. Wandrey) 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. Wandrey, (Cal. Ct. App. 2022).

Opinion

Filed 7/7/22 CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION*

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, A161691 v. NATHAN CHRISTIAN WANDREY, (Sonoma County Super. Ct. No. SCR7209161) Defendant and Appellant.

Nathan Christian Wandrey was convicted of numerous counts of sex offenses committed against the daughter of his then-girlfriend, and sentenced to consecutive aggravated prison terms totaling 756 years. Several of his arguments on appeal arise from the fact that he was charged with and prosecuted for numerous separate but undifferentiated offenses after being held to answer on a single count of continuous sexual abuse of a child and single count of committing a lewd and lascivious act on a child. Wandrey additionally argues the victim’s generic testimony was insufficient to support the verdicts; the trial court’s requirement that witnesses wear masks covering their noses and mouths violated his constitutional right to confrontation; and the trial court erred in failing to conduct an in camera review of subpoenaed documents and in its instructions to the jury. He also raises several claims of sentencing error. We find the challenges to the

Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 8.1105(b) and 8.1110, this *

opinion is certified for publication with the exception of parts I through IV.

1 convictions meritless and reject the challenges to consecutive sentencing. We agree, however, that remand for resentencing is required due to postsentencing statutory amendments affecting the imposition of upper terms. STATEMENT OF THE CASE A complaint filed on October 12, 2018, charged Wandrey with one count of continuous sexual abuse (Pen. Code, § 288.5, subd. (a))1 in a three-year period from April 2012 to April 2015, with a substantial sexual conduct enhancement (§ 1203.066, subd. (a)(8)); one count of committing a lewd act upon a minor (§ 288, subds. (a) & (c)(1)) between April 2015 and April 2017; and one count of contacting a minor with intent to commit a sexual offense (§ 288.3, subd. (a)) between April 2016 and April 2017. Following a preliminary hearing, Wandrey was held to answer on the first two counts; the court found insufficient evidence to support the third count. On July 9, 2019, an information was filed charging Wandrey with 272 counts, the odd numbered counts alleging assault with intent to commit a sexual offense against a victim under 18 years of age (§ 220, subd. (a)(2)), alternating with even numbered counts alleging commission of lewd acts upon a child (§ 288, subds. (a) & (c)(1)). The offenses were alleged to have been committed in four specified time periods: April 2012 to April 2013 (counts 1–48), April 2013 to April 2014 (counts 49–96), April 2014 to April 2015 (counts 97–220), and April 2015 to April 2016 (counts 221–272). The trial court overruled Wandrey’s demurrer. The trial court also denied Wandrey’s subsequent motion to dismiss (§ 995) as to all counts through 220; as to counts 221 through 272, the trial court granted the motion

1Further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise indicated.

2 to dismiss all the counts alleging violations of section 288, subdivision (c)(1),2 and all but 10 of the counts alleging sexual assault. The first amended information, filed March 18, 2020, alleged a total of 230 counts. Counts 1 through 220 alternately alleged assault with intent to commit a sex offense against a victim under 18 years of age (odd numbered counts) and commission of lewd acts upon a child (even numbered counts) committed as follows: On or between April 2012 and April 2013 (counts 1– 48); on or between April 2013 and April 2014 (counts 49–96); and on or between April 2014 and April 2015 (counts 97–220). Certain of the counts alleging commission of lewd acts further alleged that Wandrey engaged in substantial sexual contact while committing the offense (§ 1203.066, subd. (a)(8)) (even numbered counts 26–48, 74–96, 122–220). Counts 221 to 230 alleged assault with intent to commit a sex offense against a victim under 18 years of age on or between April 2015 and April 2016. Wandrey pleaded not guilty and denied the special allegations. During trial, the court granted the prosecutor’s motion to dismiss counts 1 through 48. On November 16, 2020, the jury found Wandrey guilty on counts 49 through 72 and 97 through 230, and found true the enhancement allegations in the even numbered counts from 122 through 220. The jury deadlocked on counts 73 through 96. The trial court declared a mistrial as to these counts and subsequently dismissed them on the prosecutor’s motion.

The motion to dismiss was granted as to the counts alleging violations 2

of section 288, subdivision (c)(1), because that offense requires that the defendant be 10 years older than the victim and no evidence of Wandrey’s age was presented at the preliminary hearing.

3 On December 4, 2020, the trial court denied Wandrey’s posttrial motion to dismiss counts 49 through 72, and sentenced him to an aggregate term of 756 years in prison. STATEMENT OF FACTS Jane Doe, born in April 2001, was 19 years old at the time of trial. She testified that she was “very stressed” being in court; it was hard to talk about what had happened and “incredibly hard” to be in court because, “I have to be so close to the source of my trauma in the same room.” Memories from her childhood were “on [her] mind all the time” and “really intrusive.” Doe testified that her mother began dating Wandrey when Doe was about nine years old. Doe came to think of Wandrey as a father figure because he paid attention to her, fed her and taught her things like cooking and personal hygiene that her mother, whom Doe described as mentally unstable, had not taught her. Doe was closer with Wandrey than she was with her mother: He treated her as a person instead of a baby, as her mother did, spent more time with her, and gave her more attention. As Doe got older, Wandrey would ask her about changes in her body. When she was around 10 years old, he asked how large her nipples were, which at the time Doe thought was “weird.” She testified this was the first time she “vividly remember[ed]” him being sexual with her, but “it was just verbal.” Doe, her mother, and Wandrey moved from Santa Rosa to a new neighborhood when Doe was in sixth grade, 11 or 12 years old.3 Doe’s mother

3Doe initially recalled the move being around the end of sixth grade, so estimated she was “maybe 10” years old. After referring to charts showing her age and the school grades she was in for each year of her life, she testified that she would have been 11 and 12 years old in sixth grade and that she

4 became “very bitter”; she and Wandrey started arguing more and spending less time together. Wandrey spent more time with Doe and began to be “more physical” with her when her mother was not nearby. Starting around the second or third month after the move, Wandrey would have Doe sit on his lap while she played computer games; when she sat on his knees, he would tell her it was okay to “scoot back” and sometimes pull her back with his hands. This made her uncomfortable, but she tried to ignore it. Around a month later, Wandrey began to give her “what he called massages,” which started at Doe’s shoulders and “would evolve to underneath my shirt on my breasts.” Doe described a time when she was sitting at the piano bench and Wandrey started to massage her this way, inhaling loudly every so often. He told her the massages were “normal” and “natural” and she believed him because she trusted him.

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People v. Wandrey, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-wandrey-calctapp-2022.