P. v. Guzman CA4/3
After a jury could not reach a verdict and the trial court declared a mistrial, the jury in a retrial convicted Sergio Sandoval Guzman of two counts of orally copulating a minor (Pen. Code, § 288a, subd. (b)(1); all further unlabeled statutory references are to the Penal Code unless noted) and one count of committing a lewd act on a child (§ 288, subd. (c)(1)). The trial court sentenced Guzman to a total term of three years and four months in prison. He contends the court erred in failing to dismiss a juror for bias and dishonesty, and he argues the court erred by instructing the jury it could consider other charged sexual offenses, if proven true, as propensity evidence. As we explain, the latter challenge is without merit under binding precedent from our Supreme Court. The evidence also supports the trial court’s discretionary decision not to dismiss the juror. We therefore affirm the judgment.
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