People v. Soto CA2/3

BACKGROUND

Viewed in accordance with the usual rules of appellate review (People v. Ochoa (1993) 6 Cal.4th 1199, 1206), the evidence established the following. The victim, Denise G., testified as follows. She and defendant Soto were in a relationship and had two children together. All four of them lived together in apartment 25 on Pasadena Avenue in Los Angeles. On June 7, 2013, Soto was going through Denise’s phone and discovered texts from a male acquaintance. Soto became enraged, calling Denise a “bitch and a whore and all kinds of names.” He punched her approximately five times in the right arm, striking her “from [her] shoulder all the way down to [her] elbow.” Denise identified photographs showing the large red bruises that resulted from these punches. Soto also punched her twice on the right leg, near her knee, leaving a big bruise, which Denise again identified in a photograph. Their children began to cry. Soto continued to harangue Denise, and at one point threw the phone at her “real hard,” leaving a small bruise on her back which she identified in a photograph. He also poked her hard in the left eye with two fingers, bruising her face. Denise identified a photograph…