Poletti

Defendant Anthony Achilles Poletti was accused by his stepdaughter (victim) of subjecting her to a variety of acts of sexual molestation when she was between the ages of 10 and 15 years old. Those acts included rape, forced oral copulation, and other forms of child sexual abuse.

In 2009, a jury convicted defendant of 15 felonies, including rape, forcible lewd acts upon a child, aggravated sexual assault upon a child by oral copulation, aggravated sexual assault upon a child by sexual penetration, dissuading a witness from reporting a crime, and possession of child pornography. The jury acquitted defendant, however, of raping victim during the winter break of her freshman year of high school (Winter Break rape).

On appeal following defendant’s initial trial, this court reversed. We directed the trial court on remand to enter a verdict of acquittal of a rape alleged to have taken place in June 2007, citing a lack of substantial evidence supporting the charge. We ordered a retrial on the remaining sexual abuse charges on juror misconduct grounds. Because the convictions for dissuading a witness from reporting a crime and possession of child pornography were unaffected by…