Jones

I.

Introduction

Carl Bartlett Jones II (defendant) was convicted by a jury of violating Penal Code section 288.5 (continuous sexual abuse of a child) and certain special allegations were found true. Further, a sentence enhancement allegation pursuant to section 667—defendant having been previously convicted of a prior serious felony, namely, the crime of forcible oral copulation with a person under 14 years of age (§ 288a, subd. (c))—was admitted by defendant and found true. He was sentenced to the upper term of 16 years in state prison, based on the conviction, and an additional 5 years for the sentence enhancement, the aggregate total prison term being 21 years.

Defendant contends on appeal that the judgment must be reversed because the jury was instructed, pursuant to CALJIC No. 2.20.1, that it “should disregard the fact that because of age and the level of cognitive development a child may perform differently as a witness from an adult,” and this instruction foreclosed the jury’s independent consideration of the child witness’s credibility. He also contends that even if the judgment is not reversed, the cause must be remanded for resentencing, because: (1) the…