People v. Ruiz
| Docket Number | F084254 |
| Decision Date | 22 August 2023 |
| Parties | THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. OSCAR CATALAN RUIZ, Defendant and Appellant. |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Kings County, No 19CMS-4644, Kathy Ciuffini, Judge.
Randy S. Kravis, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Michael P. Farrell, Assistant Attorney General, Louis M. Vasquez, Amanda D. Cary and Lewis A Martinez, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Defendant Oscar Catalan Ruiz began touching V., his stepdaughter inappropriately when she was around 11 years old. On more than one occasion, defendant told V. if she did not let him touch her, or if she told anyone, he would hurt or even kill her mother and possibly her siblings. Defendant used this threat to force intercourse with V. on more than one occasion. Eventually, V. told her sister and grandmother about the incidents and V.'s mother called law enforcement.
V.'s mother testified she applied for a U visa, for which victims of crime could apply. The trial court allowed questions related to the visa, limited to showing the witness's state of mind, and denied defendant's request to present expert testimony on the nature of the visa.[1]
For the defense, defendant's daughter A. testified she had been physically abused by defendant, but that he never sexually abused her. Defendant testified on his own behalf at trial, denying the allegations against him.
The jury found defendant guilty on all counts as charged: lewd acts on a child under 14 years old (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a), count 1),[2] forcible lewd acts on a child under 14 years old (§ 288, subd. (b)(1), count 2), and three counts of rape of a child under 14 years old (§§ 261, subd. (a), 269, subd. (a)(1), counts 3, 4 &5). The court sentenced defendant to an indeterminate term of 45 years to life for counts 3, 4 and 5; and a consecutive determinate term of 14 years, which was the middle term of eight years for count 2 plus a full consecutive middle term of six years for count 1.
On appeal, defendant claims the trial court abused its discretion when it denied defendant's request to present expert testimony on the nature of a U visa. Next, defendant claims that his attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel (IAC) by eliciting testimony from A. that defendant physically abused her and for not objecting to the prosecutor's cross-examination of A. regarding the physical abuse. Last, defendant claims the trial court improperly imposed full, consecutive sentences on counts 1 and 2. The People disagree with defendant's claims and contend the trial court properly exercised its discretion in excluding the expert testimony, defendant failed to demonstrate his attorney rendered IAC, and that the consecutive terms were authorized under section 667.6, subdivision (d).
We reject defendant's contentions, but conclude the matter must be remanded for resentencing on other grounds pursuant to section 667.6, subdivision (d). In all other respects, we affirm the judgment.
V. and her grandmother, Blanca, were living in El Salvador when they witnessed a murder in front of their house. The people who did it threatened to kill Blanca and V. if they said anything to the police. Because they were scared, Blanca and V. traveled to the United States in October 2016, arriving first in Texas. In November 2016, V. moved from Texas to California to live with her mother, Wendy. This was the first time V. remembered seeing Wendy in person. Blanca came to California on February 2, 2017.
Wendy was living on Ivy Street in Hanford with defendant, defendant's mother Ana C., and Wendy's daughters A. and J. Defendant was introduced to V. as her stepdad. V.'s birthday is November 23, 2005. When she moved to the United States, V. was almost 11 years old, A. was about 8 years old, and J. was about 5 years old. The Ivy house had one bathroom, a bedroom at the front, then a living room, kitchen and another bedroom in the back. The entire house had carpet at the time, but it was changed to a hardwood type floor in 2017. In November 2016, Ana C. slept in the front bedroom by the front door, and Wendy, defendant, and J. slept in the back bedroom by the kitchen. In anticipation of V.'s arrival, Wendy bought a bunk bed and V. and A. slept on the bunk bed in the living room. According to V., there was just one bed and a couch and V. and A. would alternate sleeping on the bed and the couch.
Wendy worked at a packing house from November 2016 until March 2017, when she went out on disability related to her pregnancy. Wendy worked Monday through Friday, starting at 7:00 in the morning, but her shift ended at varying times. Wendy shared a room with defendant and J. at the time. Wendy typically fell asleep first.
V. testified she did not have a very close relationship with defendant; she barely knew him. One night while V. was sleeping on the couch, V. got up to get a cup of water from the kitchen and saw defendant. V. was wearing a shirt and shorts and defendant was wearing only his underwear. Defendant touched her on her chest with his hands, over her shirt. V. said it felt like he was touching her a long time and she was not comfortable with it. Defendant apologized and told her not to say anything and to stay quiet. V. did not recall when this first incident happened, but Blanca had not arrived in California yet, and A. was asleep in the living room. V. did not tell anyone because defendant told her not to.
Another incident occurred before Christmas break in 2016, when V. stayed home from school. It occurred in the morning while Wendy was at work, Ana C. was in the front room, and A. and J. were at school. V. was helping defendant make his bed when defendant grabbed V. by the legs and pulled her towards him. V. was facing up and defendant positioned his body close to her. V. told defendant she felt uncomfortable and he said "'Oh, there's nothing wrong with this ....'" V. continued to say she was uncomfortable and he apologized and let her go. V. did not tell anyone because defendant told her not to tell anyone.
V. believed Wendy bought a bunk bed after Blanca arrived in February 2017. Blanca slept on the bottom bed while V. and A. continued to alternate between sleeping in the top bed and the couch. V. recalled that when you turned over in the top bunk it would squeak, but it did not shake. The couch did not make any noise when you moved.
From February 2017 through June 2017, V. recalled incidents when defendant touched her again. Wendy had complications with her pregnancy and was in and out of the hospital during that time. Blanca was working during the night and V. took care of her siblings until defendant came back from work. V. could not recall if Ana C. was living there at the time because even when she was there, she barely left her room.
One night while V. was sleeping on the couch, defendant got close to her and tried to touch her, which shocked her awake. V. was uncomfortable and scared. Defendant told V. not to say anything and threatened V. that if she did not let him touch her he would kill her mother. V. was scared because Wendy was pregnant and she did not want anything to happen to Wendy or the baby. Because of this, V. let defendant touch her; she felt defenseless. At the time, A. was asleep on the top bunk, J. was asleep in the back bedroom, and Blanca was working. Defendant put his hands under V.'s shirt to touch her chest slowly and reminded V. not to say anything.
Wendy went back to the hospital on June 26, 2017, and her baby boy, C., was delivered by C-section. Another incident occurred when Wendy had to stay at the hospital after having C. That night, Blanca was working, and defendant was sleeping with A. and J. in the same bed, but V. chose to sleep on the top bunk bed. However, defendant picked up V. from the top bed and carried her to the same bed where he and her sisters were sleeping in the front room. Defendant laid V. next to him, which made V. very uncomfortable. V. tried to get up and move back to the bunk bed, but defendant hugged her so she could not move. J. got up to hug V. and V. told her we should move to another place, but defendant said no. So V. switched places in bed with J. Nothing else happened during that incident. V. was 11 years old at the time.
One morning, defendant told V. to warm up a tortilla for him while Blanca was preparing coffee for him. V. accidentally burned the tortilla, which made defendant angry. Defendant told V. that she could not even warm up a tortilla right, grabbed the tortilla, and threw it at her face. The tortilla hit V. in the face, causing her to cry because the tortilla was really warm. Wendy came out of the back bedroom to see V. crying and wiping her tears. When Wendy saw defendant intended to hit Blanca, she got in between them because she was the victim of violence and did not want defendant to hit her mother. Defendant kicked Blanca out of the house and Wendy decided to leave with her children while defendant was at work. They moved out of the Ivy house around June 28 or 29, 2017, and stayed in Huron for about a week. Defendant asked Wendy to forgive him and come back because they were a family and had a newborn baby.
Wendy moved back into the house on Ivy Street with her children but neither Blanca nor Ana C. returned. When they moved back, Wendy, defendant and C. slept in the front bedroom, while V. and her sisters slept in the back bedroom where each of them had their own bed. Even though they had their own beds, J....
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