People v. Russell CA1/1

I. BACKGROUND

According to evidence presented at the preliminary hearing,2 in March 2009, Jane Doe 1, then nine years old, told police and forensic interviewers that Russell, her father, had placed his penis into her butt twice while she was sleeping in the living room. He put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming. A separate victim, Jane Doe 2, told police that in January 2008, she was in her apartment and Russell came up behind her, pulled down her pants, put his hands on her butt, and grabbed her around the neck. He took her cell phone. Jane Doe 2 was in her forties but described herself as being “ ‘slow.’ ” In 2014, Russell pleaded no contest to two counts of a lewd act involving force or fear on a child under 14 years old (§ 288, subd. (b); counts four and five) and one count of residential burglary (§§ 459, 460, subd. (a); count six). The offenses in counts four and five were committed against Jane Doe 1 and the count six offense was committed against Jane Doe 2. Russell also admitted a one-year prison prior (§ 667.5, subd. (b)). The trial court sentenced Russell to a total prison term of 23 years, comprised of the upper term of eight years for each lewd act…