Wilson

People v. Wilson

Good Law
245 Cal. Rptr. 3d 256·33 Cal. App. 5th 559
Court of Appeal of CaliforniaMarch 27, 2019A150500California6,730 words

Opinion

Lead Opinion

Tucher, J.

*560 Defendant was convicted of 12 counts of lewd acts against a child, the daughter of his live-in girlfriend ( Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (b)(1) ), 1 and one count of continuous sexual abuse of the same child (§ 288.5, *561 subd. (a)). He contends the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the testimony of his former wife, who testified he raped her, and of her son, who testified defendant sexually abused him when he was a young child; that the trial court abused its discretion in precluding medical testimony by defendant's expert witness and admitting testimony by the prosecution's expert about child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome (CSAAS) and false allegations of child abuse; and that it committed instructional error. In the published portion of this opinion, we conclude the trial court abused its discretion in admitting the testimony of a prosecution expert on child abuse, Dr. Anthony Urquiza, that *258 studies show only a very small percentage of allegations of child sexual abuse are false. We also agree with defendant that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury that the section 228.5 count was an alternative to the 12 counts of specific lewd acts. In…

Sign in to read the full opinion

Create a free account to read the complete opinion text, citation history, and good-law status for this case.