People v. Hamze CA1/5

background is abbreviated.

2 Six of the seven victims testified at trial; Jane Doe 5 refused to testify, which prompted the People to dismiss the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth counts. Hamze testified at trial that he was heavily sleep-deprived during his police interview. He admitted to molesting his daughter Jane Doe 5 and having had feelings of sexual attraction toward her. Hamze denied all other allegations against him. The jury convicted Hamze of one count of aggravated sexual assault of a child under the age of 14 (§ 269, subd. (a)(5); first count) and 14 counts of lewd conduct with a child under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (a); second– thirteenth, seventeenth–eighteenth counts).

DISCUSSION

I. CALCRIM No. 1191B

Hamze argues the trial court erred by instructing the jury that it could “rely on evidence of one charged offense to infer” he “had a propensity for sexual offenses and likely committed the other charged offenses,” which “violated state and federal law.” (Capitalization omitted.) Hamze’s argument is without merit. The trial court instructed the jury with CALCRIM No. 1191B, which provides that if the People have proved at least one of the charged sex…