People v. Garcia CA4/3

Filed 7/29/21 P. v. Garcia 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G059412

v. (Super. Ct. No. 13HF3631)

JIMMY MATUSALEM GARCIA, OPINION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Orange County, Gary S. Paer, Judge. Affirmed. James M. Crawford, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, and Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Steve Oetting and Anthony Da Silva, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

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Defendant Jimmy Matusalem Garcia confessed to police he molested his 11-year-old stepdaughter when she was nine years old. A jury found defendant guilty of six counts of child sexual abuse. The trial court imposed a life sentence. On direct appeal, we found the trial court properly admitted into evidence defendant’s statements to the police. But we also found the court should have released to the defense the victim’s subpoenaed school records (a second-grade report card stating she “continues to need reminders about being . . . truthful”). We conditionally reversed and remanded the matter, giving defendant an opportunity to demonstrate prejudice. (People v. Garcia (G054032, May 4, 2018) [nonpub. opn.] (Garcia I).) On remand, defendant filed a motion for new trial. Given defendant’s admissions, the trial court found no reasonable probability of a different result had the records been disclosed. The court denied the motion and reinstated the judgment. We find no abuse of discretion and affirm the judgment.