In re J.E. CA2/6

Filed 10/5/15 In re J.E. CA2/6 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION EIGHT

In re J.E., a Person Coming Under the B263121 Juvenile Court Law. (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NJ28105)

THE PEOPLE,

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v.

J.E.,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, John H. Ing, Judge. Affirmed. Lynette Gladd Moore, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Assistant Attorney General, Stephanie C. Brenan and Toni R. Johns Estaville, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. ******

In this juvenile proceeding, we reject appellant J.E.’s challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence to support the finding he raped his former girlfriend K.C. We affirm the trial court’s dispositional judgment adjudicating appellant a ward of the court and removing him from his parents custody. FACTS AND PROCEDURE Following a court trial, the court sustained an amended petition alleging that appellant committed the following offenses: rape of K.C., assault with a deadly weapon on K.C., assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury on K.C., two counts of forcible oral copulation of S.K. (another victim), and assault with a deadly weapon on S.K. On appeal, appellant challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence to support the rape of K.C. We summarize the relevant facts in accordance with the appropriate standard of review. 1. Background When she was 14 years old, K.C. began dating appellant, and their relationship lasted from about January 2012 thru October 2012.1 At the end of January 2012, appellant and K.C. started a consensual sexual relationship. In March, they started to argue and appellant became violent. Once, when K.C. started to walk away, appellant grabbed her hair and punched her in the chest causing her to fall backwards. He also kicked her stomach. On another day, appellant punched and shoved her and slammed her into a bathroom wall. K.C. did not remember specific dates and she believed that her use of marijuana, cocaine, and other pills may have affected her memory. K.C. remembered one incident when appellant would not allow her to leave his apartment, and she ran into the bathroom and called a friend. Appellant broke down the bathroom door and dragged her out of the bathroom. Appellant threw a phone at her leg and bruised her leg. Appellant tried to choke K.C., upsetting K.C. and causing her to urinate in her pants. The friend whom K.C. had called entered appellant’s bedroom and “grabbed him