Crow

The defendant was tried on eight identical counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts on the body of his thirteen-year-old stepdaughter during the period of January 1, 1990, through September 11, 1990 (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (a)), and on one count of possessing a short-barreled shotgun (§ 12020, subd. (a)). The jury found him guilty on the weapon possession charge and on three of the eight child molestation charges. However, the jury was evenly split on the remaining five molestation charges, and could not reach verdicts on those counts. Accordingly, a mistrial was declared as to the remaining counts, which were subsequently dismissed on the People’s motion. (§ 1385.)

Contentions

The defendant contends that the judgment ought to be reversed because (1) he was deprived of his constitutional right to have his guilt decided by a unanimous jury, (2) the trial court erred in permitting the People to impeach him with evidence which had been revealed to them in the course of plea negotiations, and (3) the trial court prejudicially erred by failing to bifurcate the weapons charge from the unrelated molestation counts. Finding no merit in any of these contentions, we…