People v. Chan CA2/4

BACKGROUND

Trial Evidence Because the evidence supporting the charges is not relevant to the sole issue raised on appeal, we only briefly summarize it. The victims of defendant’s crimes were his daughters, E. (counts 1, 2, and 3) and D. (counts 4, 5, and 6). On the night of April 4, 2013, while sleeping in the bedroom she shared with her parents and siblings, E. (then under 14 years old) awoke to find defendant digitally penetrating her. When E.’s mother got home from work, E. sat up in bed and began crying. E.’s mother said words to the effect of, “Not again,” and called the police. Defendant told the first responding Sheriff’s Deputy, “I touched my daughter,” and was arrested. Defendant had committed a similar act against E. about a year earlier, when he rubbed her vagina. After that occasion, E. tried to call 911, but her grandfather

1 Further unspecified statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 grabbed the phone. She then wrote a note saying, “He’s doing it again,” and slipped it under the bathroom door to her mother. In the note, she was referring to a period when she was 8 to 10 years old, during which defendant touched her in the same manner about two times a month.…