People v. Castro CA4/1

Filed 1/26/21 P. v. Castro CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

THE PEOPLE, D077034

Plaintiff and Respondent,

v. (Super. Ct. No. JCF001942)

LEONARDO CASTRO,

Defendant and Appellant.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Imperial County, Monica Lepe-Negrete, Judge. Affirmed. Arielle N. Bases, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Steve Oetting and Heather B. Arambarri, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

A jury convicted Leonardo Castro with committing a forcible lewd act

upon a child under 14 years old. (Pen. Code,1 § 288, subd. (b)(1).) The court sentenced Castro to the low term of five years in prison and imposed various fines and fees. The court also ordered Castro to register as a sex offender pursuant to section 290 and to pay a restitution fine and court assessments. (§ 290.) Castro appeals, contending his trial counsel was ineffective for not objecting to the admission of statements Castro made to law enforcement, depriving him of his Sixth Amendment right to effective assistance of counsel. We determine that claim lacks merit. Accordingly, we affirm Castro’s conviction. I FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND A. Prosecution Evidence On the evening of January 17, 2019, Leonardo Castro went to a restaurant with his parents, a family friend, and the friend’s two daughters. The daughters, eight-year-old N.I. and N.I.’s four-year-old sister, were students at a karate studio where Castro worked as an instructor’s assistant. Castro was 23 years old. Castro and the girls went into the indoor play area within the restaurant. The three of them began playing the “train game” in which two people lie face down on the floor and one person climbs over the other two. N.I. was lying on her stomach playing this game when Castro climbed on top of her and pressed his hands down on top of hers with enough force that N.I.