People v. George CA6

I. Statement of the Case

An amended criminal complaint charged defendant with four counts of lewd acts upon a child under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (a) – counts 1 through 4). It was alleged that defendant engaged in substantial sexual conduct with the victim in connection with

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code. count 4. The complaint also charged defendant with: one count of forcible rape (§ 261, subd. (a)(2) – count 5), one count of sexual penetration by foreign object (§ 289, subd. (a)(1) – count 6), and two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child based on the rape and the sexual penetration (§ 269 – counts 7 and 8). Following trial, the jury found defendant guilty of counts 1 and 4, acquitted him of counts 2, 3, 5, and 7, and was unable to reach a verdict on counts 6 and 8. It found the special allegation for count 4 to be true. The trial court granted the prosecution’s motion to dismiss counts 6 and 8. Defendant brought a motion for a new trial and argued, among other things, that the trial court erred when it failed to instruct the jurors on unanimity. The trial court denied the motion except as to the substantial sexual conduct finding for…