People v. Guerrero

[1266]

Opinion

SIMS, J.

A jury convicted defendant Eulalio Guerrero II of 13 counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)) and sustained an allegation that he committed the offenses against two or more victims (Pen. Code, § 667.61, subd. (e)(5)). He was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison.

Defendant contends the court misstated the reasonable doubt standard by instructing the jury with CALCRIM No. 220,

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and the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct during the questioning of a police officer. In the published portion of this opinion we hold the reasonable doubt instruction in CALCRIM No. 220 does not violate due process. In the unpublished portion, we hold the prosecutor’s questioning was not misconduct. We shall therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

We briefly summarize the facts of defendant’s crimes, which are not necessary to resolve this appeal. The case involves defendant’s granddaughter, R.G., and the daughters of his daughter’s boyfriend, S.G. and F.G. The girls would visit defendant at his home from time to time, sometimes spending the night, either individually or together. Defendant was convicted of molesting R.G., S.G., and F.G. Except for one incident with F.G. in his Jeep, defendant molested the girls at his house.

F.G. testified to five separate incidents, with some involving multiple molestations. S.G. testified to being molested once, and R.G. recalled three incidents over a three-year period. R.G. was molested between the ages of 10 to 12, and one of F.G.’s molestations took place when she was eight. S.G., who was nine when she testified, believes she was six during the incident.

The girls initially were afraid to tell any adults, but F.G. told her mother after talking about the molestations with her sisters and one of her cousins.

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