People v. Badillo, H024430.
| Decision Date | 09 October 2003 |
| Docket Number | H024430. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. STEPHEN PEREZ BADILLO, Defendant and Appellant. |
Appeal from Santa Clara County, Super. Ct. No. CC122025.
Defendant Stephen Perez Badillo appeals from a judgment of conviction of assault with intent to commit rape (Pen. Code, § 220)[1] (count 1 involving Sheila Doe), forcible sodomy (& sect; 286, subd. (c)(2)) (count 2 involving Christina Doe), and infliction of corporal injury on a cohabitant (§ 273.5, subd. (a)) (count 4 involving Christina Doe). The jury found him not guilty of forcible rape (count three involving Christina Doe). The court sentenced defendant to a prison term of 11 years, consisting of a principal term of six years on the sodomy conviction, a consecutive full term of four years on the assault with intent to commit rape conviction, and a consecutive term of one year on the conviction of infliction of corporal injury on a cohabitant.
On appeal, defendant raises multiple contentions. In addition to the appeal, defendant filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus, which we considered with the appeal. We find no merit to defendant's claims on appeal except with regard to sentencing. In a separate order filed this day, we deny the petition. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 24(b)(4).)
Sheila Doe testified she was 39 years of age and had known defendant for a while. After she met him, she would visit him at the room he rented and they would play video games, drink beer, and talk and listen to music. Sheila had told him that she just wanted to be friends.
She recalled being at defendant's place on December 30, 1999 and staying until the next day. They drank, played video games, and talked. According to Sheila, sometime on the morning of December 31, 1999, they decided to get a motel room because she was not allowed to smoke cigarettes in the house where defendant lived. On the way to the motel room, they got some liquor. At the hotel room, they drank beer and listened to music and then bought more liquor at a store down the street. They bought a lot of beer, maybe a case, and she thought they might have bought Bacardi. They "started drinking more and more" and they used cocaine too.
At around 5:15 or 5:30 p.m., she began to feel nervous around defendant. Sheila testified that defendant indicated that he wanted to have sex with her. She told him that she did not and she thought they had an agreement that they were just friends. She began emptying her drinks and watering them down in the bathroom. She thought defendant had begun acting weird and his mood had changed. Sheila told defendant that she was going to leave at a certain time.
According to Sheila, they had the cab take them back to the liquor store and, while defendant was in the store, she instructed the cab driver to pick her up at a particular time and took the driver's card. She testified that when the cab arrived, she was in the bathroom and defendant told the cab to leave.
Sheila testified that she tried to discreetly make phone calls because she was scared. She called her friend Eddie, who said he could not come get her. She telephoned her friend Reyna but hung up after talking for about a minute because defendant was angry. She then tried to call her mom but defendant took away the phone. Sheila indicated that she was "talking in code" to her friends because she was scared and wanted to leave but defendant did not want her to leave.
Sheila testified that defendant put a chair in front of the door. He said that "he was going to get it because I was giving it to everybody else so he was going to take it." He tried to take off her clothes. She started fighting him, trying to pull her shirt down and keep her pants up. Defendant was both bigger and stronger than Sheila.
Sheila indicated that, at some point, defendant pushed her down on the bed and laid over her sideways and pinned her. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Everything happened fast and she struggled with him. He sat on her stomach. Her pants and underwear were down to her knees and defendant's penis was exposed. She screamed and defendant's hands were around her neck.
Sheila testified that when she looked defendant had gotten off her. She ran outside and knocked on doors and windows, asking for help. When she came to an open door, she saw a man and asked him to call police. He offered to let her use the phone. She called the police.
Sheila stated that the police came right away. She recognized photographs as pictures of herself from that night. One showed her wearing torn sweatpants, which had torn during her struggle with defendant. In regard to a photograph focusing on her hands, Sheila stated defendant had grabbed her and held her wrists in a hurtful way and had held both of her hands up over her head with one hand. She testified regarding her response at that time: "I was wriggling my waist down trying to get him off of me the best I could with my knees and legs." They wrestled on the bed for about 20 minutes. In regard to a photograph showing her neck, she indicated that she had some pain in her throat from defendant holding her neck and that defendant had left some prints.
On cross-examination, Sheila admitted that she and defendant got into an argument about money on December 31, 1999 and they both probably raised their voices.
San Jose Police Officer Manual Sarmento testified that, on December 31, 1999 at 6:02, a 911 call was received and he was dispatched to a hotel room concerning a possible attempted rape. He spoke with Sheila, who was crying, sobbing, and distraught. Officer Sarmento noticed some redness around Sheila's throat area and observed that "[h]er sweatpants looked like they had been recently ripped." A photograph taken that evening showed both legs of her pants had been ripped.
Officer Sarmento testified that Sheila had told him that she was over at defendant's residence most of December 30, 1999 and they had been drinking beer and playing computer games most of the night. She had told the officer they had left about 6 a.m. and checked into a motel room. She had said that they watched TV and drank beer in the room and then had taken a cab to buy more beer. Sheila had told the officer that she had stayed in cab while defendant bought the beer and had asked the driver for his business card so she could call for a ride home later. Officer Sarmento testified that Sheila told him that they returned to the motel room and used cocaine. She had reported that at about 5:15 or 5:30 that evening she became afraid of defendant and tried to call friends for a ride. She had told him she first called Eddie but "was being vague on the phone because the defendant was real close by." Sheila had told the officer that she then called Reyna but did not finish the conversation because defendant asked her to hang up. Sheila had stated that then she tried to call for a cab but the defendant took the phone away from her.
Officer Sarmento testified that Sheila had said that defendant removed his shirt, sat next to her on the bed, pushed her back onto the bed, straddled her, held her wrists above her head, and pulled down his shorts and underwear. Sheila had told him that defendant had placed his forearm across her neck and began pulling down her sweatpants and she had tried to push him off. Sheila had said that defendant also put his hand around her throat. Sheila had reported that defendant, who was straddling her stomach, began pulling down her panties and she felt his penis on her stomach. Sheila had stated that she warned defendant that she was going to scream if he did not stop and, when he did not stop, she screamed and defendant got off her.
Officer Sarmento testified that Sheila had told him that she had only known defendant for two months. He could not recall Sheila telling him that defendant had blocked her exit with a chair. She never told him that a taxicab came to the hotel but defendant sent it away.
Christina Doe testified that she met defendant at a dancing club in about January or February, 2001. They went out together for about two months and had a sexual relationship. She would stay over at his studio apartment two or three nights per week. At some point, defendant moved to a motel and Christina moved into his room for about five days.
According to Christina, she "stayed completely intoxicated with alcohol that whole week" at the motel. She indicated she had been drinking vodka, at least a fifth a day, and taking tranquilizers and was "completely out of it . . . ." On cross-examination, she stated that she only took pills the last day she was there.
Christina described an incident during those five days in which defendant beat her when she tried to walk away from the motel. According to Christina, defendant made her get into his truck, grabbed her by her hair, and "started pounding" her face. She testified that they "took a long drive with a series of beatings at each stop sign." She stated that he hit her face, head and back, which left her with a "[b]usted lip, black eye, bruises, forehead, side." She explained that when they returned to the motel, she "started running from him and he caught [her], grabbed [her] by the hair and drug [sic] [her] back."
Christina also testified regarding a subsequent incident in the truck on August 29, 2001. She and defendant were arguing and defendant was beating her. She acknowledged that she had told defendant that she was crying because he had sodomized her. Christina described her injuries as including a "[b]usted lip, black eye, bruised forehead," and an abrasion on her nose. She admitted that she had hit, slapped, scratched, and kicked defendant and pulled his hair. According to Christina, she jumped out when defendant stopped the truck and he chased her. Christina recalled screaming to a lady walking nearby to call the...
To continue reading
Request your trial