Whitham

On October 5, 1993, a jury convicted appellant Sally Ann Whitham of murdering 11-year-old Denise Z. by the administration of poison. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a); 190.2, subd. (a)(19).) Whitham was also convicted of holding Denise and her sister, Crystal Z., in involuntary servitude (§ 181) and of physically and sexually abusing both girls (§§ 273a, subd. (1) [now § 273a, former subd. (a)]; 273d; 288, subd. (a); 288.5; 289, subd. (a)).

The People sought the death penalty, but the jury deadlocked following the penalty phase of trial. Whitham was ultimately sentenced to prison for life without the possibility of parole plus a consecutive determinate term of 50 years 8 months. This timely appeal followed.

In the published portion of this opinion, we hold that: (1) the “substantial sexual conduct” means of violating section 288.5, the “resident child molester” statute, does not require the specific intent to arouse, appeal to, or gratify the lust, passions, or sexual desires of the perpetrator or the child; and (2) subdivision (b) of section 288.5, which expressly dispenses with the need for jury unanimity on the identity of the specific acts constituting the crime, does…