People v. Negrete CA4/3
Opinion
Opinion
Fybel, J.
INTRODUCTION
A jury convicted defendant Carmen Negrete of three counts of committing sex crimes against his minor stepdaughter, A.C., one count of attempting to dissuade A.C. from testifying while Negrete was released from custody on bail, and one count of violating a protective order. We affirm. Negrete raises two issues on appeal. First, he contends the trial court erroneously denied his motion to exclude his statements to a police detective during an interview at the police station because he had invoked his right to counsel. Based upon our independent review of the video-recorded interview, we conclude Negrete’s motion was correctly denied because his statements were ambiguous and the detective’s clarifying follow-up questions were reasonable. Negrete’s responses to the detective’s follow-up questions confirmed Negrete was not invoking his right to counsel. Second, Negrete contends the evidence was insufficient for the jury to find he had accomplished one of his crimes by duress. Given Negrete’s relationship to A.C., substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding of duress.