People v. Fletcher CA4/1

I.

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Anthony Wayne Fletcher appeals from a judgment of conviction for

three counts of lewd acts on a child aged 14 or 15 and 10 years younger than Fletcher,

and three counts of annoying or molesting a child under age 18. The victim was

Fletcher's daughter, whom he touched on a number of occasions when he thought she was

sleeping.

On appeal, Fletcher contends that the trial court erred in instructing the jury with

an instruction on flight. According to Fletcher, there was no evidence from which a

rational juror could reasonably infer that Fletcher left Riverside County in order to elude

arrest or observation, and that the flight instruction therefore should not have been given.

We conclude that the trial court did not err in instructing the jury on flight, and that even

if the court erred in giving the instruction, Fletcher cannot demonstrate that the

instruction prejudiced him. We therefore affirm Fletcher's convictions.

II.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

A. Factual background

Until her freshman year of high school, Jane Doe1 lived with her mother and

father in Riverside County. She considered her family to be "the basic…