P. v. Royal

Filed 8/15/06 P. v. Royal CA1/3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS

California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

Defendant Martin Demment Royal challenges his conviction for multiple counts of rape, incest, oral copulation and furnishing illegal narcotics to a minor stemming from long term sexual abuse of his daughter, which began when she was 12 years old. He challenges the admission under Evidence Code section 1108 of evidence of prior crimes to show his propensity to commit the instant offenses and the sufficiency of the evidence of duress to support the rape and oral copulation charges. We shall affirm.

Background

Because of defendant's challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence, we recite the evidence at trial in greater detail than might otherwise be necessary. Defendant's daughter, M., was born in 1982. Until she was 12 years of age, she lived with her mother, stepfather, and their children and had little contact with defendant. Because she was constantly arguing with her stepfather, M. testified, she moved to New York in 1994 to live with her father. Her mother drove her to Kansas City where they met defendant, who was driving a big rig truck. That night, when M. and defendant lay down to sleep in the back of the truck, defendant reached under her shirt and touched her breast, then â€