People v. Santiago

Opinion

BARON, J.

Appellant Cenovia Santiago was convicted of six counts of corporal injury to a child in violation of Penal Code section 273d. The evidence against appellant consisted of the testimony of the 12-year-old victim, appellant’s pretrial admissions to police, medical records of the

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victim, and the instruments by which some of the injuries were inflicted, including a belt, pliers, spoon, rock, and extension cord. The instruments were obtained from appellant’s residence pursuant to consent given by the victim when she was just under 12 years old.

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The only issues raised in this appeal concern the legality of police entry into appellant’s home and their recovery of the instruments. For reasons explained in this opinion, we affirm the judgment.

Factual Summary

The evidence, briefly recounted in the light most favorable to the verdict, proved that in 1992 appellant brought her 10-year-old niece Carla from Mexico to her home for the purpose of having her learn English, attend school and babysit appellant’s daughter. Carla never attended school. Instead, she cleaned appellant’s house and babysat, initially for one child and later two, five days a week from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Carla worked for appellant for approximately 18 months. During the last 12 months, appellant hit Carla with her hands, an extension cord, a belt, a hammer, and a rock. Appellant also pulled Carla’s ears, cut Carla with a knife, burned Carla with a spoon which she heated on the stove, pinched Carla’s fingers with a pair of pliers, and dragged Carla back into the house when she tried to run away, hitting Carla’s head against the door frame.

This abuse ended on June 19, 1994, when Carla left appellant’s house early in the morning and knocked on a neighbor’s door in search of work. The neighbor called police. When police responded, they noticed Carla had a black eye, marks on her arms, and swollen fingers which were unable to bend. They took Carla to the station, where she was interviewed. Female officers examined Carla’s body and reported that she had bruises and scarring on her back which appeared to have been made by a belt.