People v. Ponce CA2/8

BACKGROUND

On February 26, 1990, the body of Alma Harvey, age 83, was discovered on her bed in her Los Angeles duplex. She had died from asphyxia caused by manual strangulation. What appeared to be dried semen was located on the bedspread near her thigh, and her pajama bottoms and an adult diaper were down around her ankles. During a cold case investigation 12 years later, in February 2002, sperm cells were found on the bedspread. Their DNA profile matched the DNA profile on defendant’s reference swab.

All further section references are to the Penal Code.

2 In a police interview in English, defendant stated he used to clean Ms. Harvey’s house and that on the day of her murder, they had had consensual sex at her insistence on the kitchen sink. Afterward, he placed Ms. Harvey in her wheelchair and left her on a living room couch. He later stated Harvey complained she could not breathe after their intercourse. She was limp and no longer speaking when he took her in the wheelchair to her bed. He believed Ms. Harvey died “because of what happened that day.” During a later interview in Spanish, defendant told police a different account of what had happened. He stated a…