People v. Sanchez CA2/4

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant Miguel Angel Sanchez of oral copulation of a child under the age of 10 (count 1, Penal Code, § 288.7, subd. (b)1) and forcible lewd act upon a child (count 2, § 288, subd. (b)(1).) After factoring in defendant’s prior convictions, the court sentenced defendant to 95 years to life—55 years to life on count one, and 40 years on count 2, to run consecutively. On appeal, defendant argues that his actions were part of a continuous course of conduct, and therefore he should not have been sentenced to consecutive terms. We find that the two acts he committed on the seven-year-old victim were separate and distinct, and therefore affirm.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The prosecution presented the following facts. Defendant was a friend of the victim’s family. Mother had four children at the time of the incident, E., age 14; J., age 12; B., age 7, and Ju.; age 3. On the day of the incident, mother was suffering from the effects of a miscarriage about a week earlier. Defendant called mother and offered to help her carry groceries home. Defendant met mother and her four children at the grocery store, and accompanied them on the walk home. They…