P. v. West

Filed 9/19/06 P. v. West CA3

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.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

THIRD APPELLATE DISTRICT

(Sacramento)

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A jury convicted defendant Cameron Christopher West of commission of a forcible lewd act with a child under age 14 and found that he inflicted great bodily injury on the victim. (Pen. Code, §§ 288, subd. (b)(1), 12022.8.) The jury made special findings that defendant took advantage of a position of trust and committed the present offense while on bail. (Cal. Rules of Court, rules 4.408, 4.421.) Defendant was sentenced to state prison for the upper term of eight years, plus five years for the enhancement. A concurrent term of two years was imposed for an unrelated case.

On appeal, defendant contends the trial court erred by (1) permitting the prosecution expert to opine that the victim was credible, and that defendant was guilty; and (2) excluding a recording of a pretext telephone call from evidence. We shall modify the judgment.

FACTS

Prosecution case-in-chief

C. was eight years old when she testified at trial. Defendant, C.'s father, was divorced from C.'s mother in 2000. By 2002, he had visitation with C. every weekend.

On a Friday morning in September 2003, the mother took C. to her daycare center. Defendant picked up C. from the center that afternoon. The center's director did not notice anything unusual about C. that day.

Defendant and C. went to his residence. That evening, he told her to go to his bedroom. When they got there, he told her to pull down her pants and underwear. She did so and, at his direction, she laid down on the bed. He put his penis in her vagina. This hurt C., and she said â€