People v. Nelson CA1/1

I.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL

BACKGROUND

Because the jury rejected the more serious charges and Nelson’s appellate claims require us to resolve only issues of law, we do not describe the evidence in detail. The charges at issue stemmed from a series of short videos Nelson took with his cell phone on a single occasion in April 2021. He and the middle- aged victim, Rebecca, were in a relationship, and to some extent he acted as her caregiver.1 Evidence was presented that Rebecca, who did not testify, was hearing impaired, schizophrenic, and bipolar. She had psychotic episodes during which she voiced delusional beliefs, including that she had been physically and sexually violated in unlikely or impossible ways. Nelson was arrested in October 2021 after Rebecca reported he had assaulted her, including by “urethrally rap[ing]” her and “punch[ing her] in . . . the anal tailbone.” When the police questioned him, Nelson disclosed the April 2021 videos, which were played for the jury. An officer described them as “close-up recording[s] of Rebecca’s nude vulva. [Nelson] is digitally penetrating her multiple times with his hand and his fingers.” During the videos, Nelson and Rebecca talk to…