People v. Paine CA3

STATEMENT OF FACTS

Since the sufficiency of the evidence is not an issue, we briefly set forth the facts. Defendant was convicted of one count of continual sexual abuse against M., his stepgranddaughter. Defendant was married to M.’s grandmother. M. frequently stayed with defendant and her grandmother. During M.’s stays, starting when she was about 11 years old, defendant rubbed her chest on more than three occasions and rubbed her vaginal area at least three times during the accusatory period. M. did not tell her parents or her grandmother about the touching because she feared they would be angry with her. M. did tell her friend about the touching and the friend persuaded her to tell her teacher, which she did. Defendant testified, denying ever molesting M. Defendant thought M. was lying because she was jealous of his relationship with her grandmother.

DISCUSSION

Defendant contends the trial court violated its duty to conduct a hearing into juror misconduct based on a letter given to the court by Juror No. 2 after the verdict had been rendered and the jury dismissed. The letter cited various reasons why Juror No. 2 believed that some of the jurors had engaged in misconduct,…