People v. Witous CA4/1

Filed 8/28/24 P. v. Witous CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, D084022

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. SWF2000177)

JESSICA MARIE WITOUS,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, Samuel Diaz, Jr., Judge. Affirmed. Marta I. Stanton, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Assistant Attorney General, Robin Urbanski and Brendon Marshall, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

The trial court sentenced Jessica Marie Witous to nine years in state

prison after a jury found her guilty of felony child abuse. (Pen. Code1, §§ 273a, subd. (a), 12022.7, subd. (d).) Witous claims the prosecutor misstated the law and improperly attempted to diminish the People’s burden

of proof. Witous also asks us to independently conduct a Pitchess2 review to which the People do not object. We conclude there was no prosecutorial error or abuse of discretion by the trial court. Accordingly, we affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND3 In late October 2019, 18-month-old Z. began attending an in-home daycare facility run by Witous. On Friday, November 8, 2019, Z. came home with a bruise under her lip after spending the day at Witous’s daycare program. Later that night Z. began vomiting. On Monday, November 11, Z. came home from Witous’s daycare with a “busted lip” and an abrasion above her left eyebrow. On Tuesday, November 12, Witous called 911 and reported that Z. “jumped out” of the Pack ‘n Play and was unresponsive. When Z.’s mother arrived at the hospital, she observed new abrasions above both of Z.’s eyebrows and bruising inside her right ear and on her right arm. A CT scan of Z.’s head revealed a subdural hematoma. Later that day, Z. underwent surgery to reduce pressure on her brain.