People v. Cartwright
| Decision Date | 19 November 2018 |
| Docket Number | D072241 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. LEONARD B. CARTWRIGHT III, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Richard S. Whitney, Judge. Affirmed.
Robert E. Boyce, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, Arlene A. Sevidal and Andrew Mestman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendant Leonard B. Cartwright III was convicted of 12 counts for committing lewd acts on children under age 14. (See Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a).)1 On appeal, he argues that his conviction was tainted by the erroneous admission of certain evidence and by an inappropriate prosecutorial comment during closing argument. As to the former, we assume that admission of the evidence—a letter penned by one of Cartwright's victims, disclosing his abuses—was error, but nevertheless find no basis for reversal given a dearth of potential prejudice. As to the latter claim of error, Cartwright contends the prosecutor improperly disparaged the exercise of his right against self-incrimination. But as we read the record, there was nothing improper about the prosecutor's remark. Accordingly, we affirm.
Based on incidents during which he kissed and fondled the breasts of young girls, Cartwright was charged with 18 violations of section 288, subdivision (a). Each charge alleged commission of a lewd act on a minor under the age of 14. Ultimately, the jury convicted him on 12 of those charges.
As will be detailed below, the People's evidence against Cartwright generally fell into two categories. Foremost, each of the six alleged victims—five of whom were Cartwright's stepgranddaughters through his marriage to their grandmother—testified. Secondly, the People admitted three recordings that included statements Cartwright made during the underlying investigation—two from "pretext calls" made by one of the victimsand one from his postarrest interview. The defense presented no affirmative case at trial; its strategy instead relied on cross-examination.
Sarah C.
Sarah, one of Cartwright's stepgranddaughters, was 19 years old at the time of trial. By then, she could not pinpoint her first memory of Cartwright's inappropriate behavior—it had "always been like that." Cartwright "would get her alone," and then touch her breasts over and under her shirt, as well as kiss her using his tongue. Such encounters took place five to six times per year between the ages of 10 and 17, though the abuse started before that period and continued after it. Aside from one occasion in Arizona, all the incidents took place in San Diego County.
Several occurred at the San Marcos home shared by Cartwright and Sarah's grandmother, when Sarah was around age 11 or 12. On at least three occasions, Cartwright summoned Sarah to his office to view his coin collection. There, he would reach into her shirt to touch her breast area, kiss her on the mouth using his tongue, and instruct Sarah to "put out her tongue" too. Cartwright engaged in the "same kind of touching" in both the kids' room and front room of the house. At least five other similar incidents took place at Cartwright's Lemon Grove home before Sarah turned 14. Cartwright would call Sarah over to a rocking chair in the garage and then kiss her on the mouth using his tongue and touch her breasts.
Although not directly tied to a charged count, Sarah testified regarding an encounter with Cartwright in Arizona. (See Evid. Code, § 1108.) On a family vacationthere, when Sarah was around nine or 10, Cartwright approached her while she was watching television. No one else was home. He knelt beside Sarah, who was clad only in a bathing suit and towel, and "started playing with [her] vagina, outside [her] swimsuit." He reached underneath her bathing suit and proceeded to rub his hand on her vagina, asking if she liked it. Sarah "froze in fear" and did not respond. Cartwright ceased and left the room when the other family members started to arrive home.
Sarah also recounted two instances when she was age 18, again not directly related to charged counts. (See Evid. Code, § 1108.) On both occasions, Cartwright kissed her with his tongue and grabbed her breasts while they were in his truck on the way home from a shopping trip. During the first of the two, he told her "that [she] would be his secret girlfriend" and "not to tell anybody." The second time, and multiple times thereafter, he again told her not to tell anyone. He said things like "don't tell your grandma about this" and "let's just keep this between the two of us."
Catherine C.
Catherine, another of Cartwright's stepgranddaughters and the younger sister of Sarah, was age 17 at the time of trial. The first instance of abuse she recalled occurred when she was around five years old. While she was sitting on Cartwright's lap in a rocking chair at the San Marcos home, he reached underneath her shirt and rubbed her breasts. Similarly, on five to 10 occasions at the San Marcos home, Cartwright touched and grabbed her chest when hugging her. Catherine also recounted that, in Arizona, Cartwright once made her kiss him on the lips after he bought her a music player for her birthday and once grabbed her butt.
Michelle C.
Cartwright's stepgranddaughter Michelle, the younger sister of Sarah and Catherine, was age 15 at the time of trial. She testified Cartwright touched her inappropriately more than three times. Her first memory of inappropriate touching involved an incident at age 11. Having just arrived at the San Marcos house, she greeted Cartwright with a hug, during which he reached into her shirt to rub her breasts and told her he loved her. The same thing happened when she was around age 13. Cartwright also regularly kissed her on the lips, though usually it was a "peck" when others were present. Michelle generally avoided being alone with Cartwright by staying with her other siblings.
Amy H.
Amy was a cousin of Sarah, Catherine, and Michelle, and another of Cartwright's stepgranddaughters. She was age 22 at the time of trial. Cartwright first touched her inappropriately when she was age nine or 10. On five to 10 occasions, Cartwright rubbed her chest area when hugging her. Amy eventually started blocking him from doing so by putting up her arm when they hugged. Cartwright also kissed her, but not with his tongue. One night when Amy was 11 or 12, Cartwright came to her bedside to say goodnight. He started rubbing her stomach and gradually moved his hand upwards to her breasts, saying "[O]h, my Amy"—he "always" said things like that.
Lauren S.
Lauren, age 13 at the time of trial, was a junior racecar driver that Cartwright sponsored and often took shopping. In his truck on various shopping trips, he asked herquestions out of the blue like whether she "loved him" in a romantic sense; whether she was a virgin; if she knew how to French kiss; and if he could teach her how to French kiss. When Lauren wouldn't answer, Cartwright would press for a response, repeating his question and, on some occasions, reaching over to touch her hand.
Cartwright touched Lauren's breast area multiple times. He did so in his truck around five to 10 times when Lauren was age 12 or 13. One time, he attempted to pull up her shirt and reach underneath it, but Lauren moved away before he was able to. Cartwright also tried to touch her crotch "a couple times in the truck." On one particular occasion, he moved his hand up her leg; Lauren closed her legs together before he reached her vagina. Another time, Cartwright grabbed and then smacked her butt while they were in a retail store.
Cartwright also showed Lauren catalogs to recommend certain clothing, making comments like "I would like you to wear that so I can look at you." Similarly, he once told her she "looked sexy" in a particular pair of jeans. Another time, when he noticed her looking at a bra during a shopping trip, he told her, "I'll buy that for you if you let me put it on."
Sarah was the first to come forward. At age 18, she disclosed the abuse to her mother in a letter, which ultimately led to an investigation of Cartwright. The investigation yielded recorded statements from Cartwright in two forms—during "pretext calls" and from his postarrest interview.
Sarah participated in two recorded "controlled calls" to Cartwright, the purpose of which was to "solicit various statements of admission" regarding the abuse she had suffered.
When confronted in the first call, Cartwright initially asked Sarah if his conduct bothered her, and apologized after she said it did. Sarah asked why he did those things; Cartwright replied, "I guess it's a hidden love." He later explained his behavior as "part of love on the person" and that it had been his family's practice to kiss on the lips from a very early age. Yet Cartwright eventually agreed "to some degree" with Sarah's characterization of his conduct as inappropriate. Still, he maintained that he had not done anything of that nature when Sarah was a child, nor to her sisters. He denied intentionally touching her breasts. But he acknowledged that once, he had "just . . . reached over and squeezed . . . . and didn't think anything of it." As to their most recent French kiss—which occurred after Sarah turned 18—he stated,
In the second call, Cartwright...
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