People v. Butte

Opinion

SIMS, Acting P. J.

A criminal information was filed charging defendant Raymond Harold Butte with 35 counts of sexual offenses perpetrated against his daughter R.W., beginning in 1979 and ending in 1998. A jury convicted him on 31 counts and deadlocked on the remaining four. The trial court sentenced him to a total prison term of 188 years and eight months.

[958]

In the unpublished portion of the opinion, we reverse 18 counts because, in light of

Stogner

v.

California

(2003) 539 U.S. 607 [156 L.Ed.2d 544, 123 S.Ct. 2446], they are barred by the statute of limitations. In the published portion, we shall reject defendant’s contention that the information provided defendant with inadequate due process notice of the charges. We shall conclude that, because defendant waived a preliminary hearing, he has forfeited his claim of inadequate due process notice.

DEFENDANT’S CONTENTIONS

*

FACTS*

DISCUSSION

I-III*

IV

Defendant contends his demurrer to the information should have been sustained because the charges were too vague to address as they were alleged; according to defendant, this vagueness violated his rights to notice and due process. We agree with the People that defendant has forfeited this claim of error by waiving preliminary hearing.

This case had a complicated pretrial procedural history which we need not recount in full. For present purposes, what matters is the following:

On March 8, 2000, after a complaint was filed which alleged all of the counts contained in the ultimate “Amended Consolidated Information” (as well as others dismissed before trial), defendant waived preliminary examination. On the same date the complaint was deemed an information and the prosecution was given leave to file a consolidated information (incorporating into one charging document counts previously filed under separate case numbers). Defendant thereafter demurred to the consolidated information,