People v. Zaragoza CA4/3

Filed 7/15/21 P. v. Zaragoza 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G058966 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Super. Ct. No. 17CF0067) v. OPINION GILBERTO FUENTES ZARAGOZA,

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Michael A. Leversen, Judge. Affirmed. Kristen Owen, 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, Holly D. Wilkens and Robin Urbanski, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Appellant Gilberto Fuentes Zaragoza was convicted of multiple counts of child sex abuse for molesting his niece Laura P. His sole contention on appeal is that the trial court erred in admitting evidence regarding the damaging effect his abuse had on Laura’s physical and emotional well-being. Appellant contends this evidence was so inflammatory it violated his right to a fair trial. We disagree and affirm the judgment. FACTS Following the death of her father when she was a toddler, Laura lived in a Tustin apartment with her brother, mother and aunt. When Laura was about six years old, her aunt married appellant, and he moved into the apartment as well. Since appellant was the only man in the household, Laura trusted him like a father. However, when Laura was about nine years old, appellant started touching her inappropriately around the apartment, and that led to more serious transgressions. One day, he went into Laura’s bedroom and started kissing her. She resisted and told him to stop, but he pushed her onto her bed and raped her. Afterward, Laura felt sad and confused. Appellant told her not to tell anyone what he had done, so she kept the incident to herself. A few years later, when Laura was 12, appellant did the same thing to her in her bedroom. During this episode, Laura bit appellant on the arm to get him to stop, but that did not deter him. The next incident occurred two years later, when Laura was 14 years old. On that occasion, Laura was half asleep when appellant crawled into her bed with her and penetrated her vagina with his penis. In the course of doing so, he also kissed and groped Laura very roughly, leaving a hickey on her breast. Later that same year, appellant again entered Laura’s bedroom unannounced. He forced her onto the bed, reached under her clothing and began penetrating her vagina with his fingers. But then somebody walked by the room, and he ceased the attack for fear of being discovered.