People v. Whitmore CA4/3

Filed 9/8/22 P. v. Whitmore 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NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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, G060528

v. (Super. Ct. No. 20NF0367)

CHRISTOPHER LEE WHITMORE, OPI NION

Defendant and Appellant.

Appeal from an order of the Superior Court of Orange County, Julian W. Bailey, Judge. Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. Robert V. Vallandigham, Jr., under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, A. Natasha Cortina, Robin Urbanski, and Donald W. Ostertag, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. * * *

A jury convicted appellant Christopher Whitmore of rape, false imprisonment, and other crimes, and the trial court sentenced him to 10 years in prison. Several months later, following a contested restitution hearing, a different judge ordered Whitmore to pay $589.35 in victim restitution. 1 In our previous opinion, we affirmed the judgment against Whitmore. In the present opinion, we review the restitution order and conclude substantial evidence supports only a portion of the restitution award. We therefore affirm the restitution order in part, reverse it in part, and remand the matter for further proceedings.

FACTS Whitmore and P.S. started having sex when she was 15 years old, and they had a child together several years later. Their relationship soon grew violent. P.S. eventually broke up with Whitmore, but he continued to make repeated unwanted sexual advances toward her. (Whitmore I, supra, 80 Cal.App.5th at pp. 120-121, petn. for review pending.) In early 2020, Whitmore invited P.S. to go to Disneyland to celebrate their son’s second birthday. P.S. accepted the invitation but rejected Whitmore’s suggestion that they act as if they were still a couple. (Id. at p. 121.) Whitmore drove P.S. and the child from their home in Northern California to a hotel in Anaheim. (Whitmore I, supra, 80 Cal.App.5th at p. 121, petn. for review pending.) That evening, Whitmore prevented P.S. from leaving the hotel room and forcibly raped, sodomized, and orally copulated her while their son lay sleeping in the other bed. The next morning, P.S. asked a hotel employee to call the police. Officers arrived on the scene and arrested Whitmore. P.S. was taken to a hospital to undergo a sexual assault examination. (Id. at p. 122.)