Atkins

Defendant, Tony Atkins, appeals following his jury trial which resulted in his conviction for five sex crimes arising out of the sexual molestation of his stepdaughter, N. The jury took approximately 20 minutes to reach their verdict. The court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial based on jury misconduct and a motion requesting disclosure of jurors’ addresses and/or phone numbers.

Facts

Defendant was the stepfather of the victim, N. He lived with N. and her mother from the time she was six years old. N. testified to a continual pattern of sexual abuse. The five counts of sexual abuse defendant was found guilty of occurred some time after March 2, 1985, when the family moved to Coarsegold.

The case essentially involved a credibility contest between defendant and N. N.’s credibility was bolstered by her mother who testified that in Atascadero, prior to their move to Coarsegold, she walked into the room and saw defendant hovering over N. in a “push-up” position. When she asked, “What the hell is going on?” defendant moved away and said, “I know what it looks like. I know what you are thinking.” Defendant denied any wrongdoing and N. said nothing was wrong. The…