People v. Miller

A jury convicted Edward Lorenzo Miller, Jr., defendant, of sexual penetration of a minor (Pen. Code, § 288.7, subd. (b)). [1] Defendant's motion for a new trial was granted by the trial court. The People appeal, claiming the trial court abused its discretion in granting the new trial motion. ( People v. Coffman and Marlow (2004) 34 Cal.4th 1, 127 [ 17 Cal.Rptr.3d 710 , 96 P.3d 30 ].) We conclude that the trial court erred in two respects in granting the new trial motion and, therefore, reverse its order.

Sometime well before September 18, 2008, the victim and her four sisters and her brother, along with their mother, moved into the home of the mother's aunt and the aunt's husband, who was defendant. The mother's aunt and defendant slept in one bedroom of the home and the mother slept in another. The children slept in the living room. The children got along well with defendant before September 18, 2008, and they had daily contact with him.

The victim, who was six years old at the time of the crime, testified that she and her brother were lying on the living room floor next to each other the night of September 18 when defendant entered the dark room, picked up the…