People v. Stephens CA2/5

I. BACKGROUND

A. The Offense Conduct Pertaining to M.V., As Established by the Evidence at Trial M.V. met defendant in an acting class in April 2009. The two were friendly and had a few interactions outside of class. Male students often walked female students back to their cars after class to ensure their safety, and defendant walked M.V. to her car once. They chatted about politics. On one occasion, defendant asked M.V. to get yogurt with him in her neighborhood. She agreed, but she did not think the outing was a date. About one month after she joined the acting class, M.V. and defendant were assigned to be scene partners. This meant they

3 were expected to meet off-site once or twice during the week to prepare a scene from a movie and then perform it during class. M.V. and defendant met twice to rehearse their scene, once at his apartment and once at hers. When M.V. and defendant rehearsed at his apartment, he was not very interested in rehearsing and wanted M.V. to watch a movie with him instead. At some point, defendant tried to rub his leg against hers. She told defendant she was there to rehearse, not watch a movie, and did not stay very long. M.V. believed her actions…