People v. Perez CA4/3

Filed 1/15/14 P. v. Perez CA4/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent, G047463

v. (Super. Ct. No. 11HF2313)

OSCAR D. PEREZ PEREZ, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Steven D. Bromberg, Judge. Affirmed. Siri Shetty, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Erica A. Swenson and Laura A. Glennon, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

A jury convicted Oscar D. Perez Perez (defendant) of 22 counts of lewd acts with a child under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)),1 four counts of lewd acts with a child under the age of 16 (§ 288, subd. (c)(1)), and found true allegations defendant committed sex crimes with multiple victims under the One Strike law (§ 667.61, subds. (b), (c), (e)(5)). The trial court sentenced him to an indeterminate term of 330 years to life. Defendant’s sole challenge to the judgment is that the prosecutor committed prejudicial misconduct during closing argument. We find the contention meritless and affirm the judgment. FACTS Defendant does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence thus the facts may be briefly stated. From 2007 until his arrest in 2011, defendant, a priest at a Laguna Hills church, molested several young boys who volunteered to be “ministers” at various church services. The boys said defendant committed acts of sodomy, oral copulation, touching and rubbing penises, theirs and defendant’s, and open-mouthed kissing. The acts of molestation usually occurred when the boys stayed overnight at defendant’s home, although the boys also said they were uncomfortable when defendant would hug and kiss them on each cheek as a form of public greeting. After his arrest, defendant initially denied any misconduct. However, he later admitted touching the penis of two of the victims, but claimed he did so for the sole purpose of advising their mothers about circumcision. He also admitted to kissing one of the victim’s on the lips and that doing so had not been sensible. Five boys testified at trial, and defense counsel thoroughly cross-examined each boy. Defendant called a girl who had also been a minister in the church to testify that one of the victims seemed angry and upset the night before defendant’s arrest.