People v. Gil CA4/1

INTRODUCTION

A jury found defendant Efrain Manzo Gil guilty of committing lewd acts on his four-year-old and five-year-old sons after he touched them on the buttocks over their clothes and put his tongue inside their mouths while he kissed them. In a bifurcated sanity trial, the same jury found Manzo Gil was sane when he committed these lewd acts on his sons. Manzo Gil appeals his judgment of conviction. He claims: (1) the trial court erred by denying a motion to suppress statements he made during a custodial interrogation because his schizophrenia prevented him from knowingly and intelligently waiving his rights under Miranda v. Arizona (1966) 384 U.S. 436 (Miranda), and his statements were involuntary; (2) the court erred by precluding his expert witness from testifying that his schizophrenia may have caused him to be confused during the interrogation; (3) the court erred when instructing the jury on the defense of not-guilty-by- reason-of-insanity (NGI); (4) his prison sentence of 30 years to life violated the state and federal constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment; (5) the court erred by failing to ensure he was sentenced by his trial judge or an adequately…