People v. Paniague CA1/4

BACKGROUND

Paniague and Rosario P. moved in together in 2012 or 2013 and married in 2014. Rosario had four children from prior relationships: Estrella,

1 Brisa, Jesus, and Josue.1 She later had another daughter with Paniague. Estrella, the oldest, was about 12 years old when Paniague started living with the family. Estrella described her relationship with Paniague as “good” and “respectful” but not close. They argued on rare occasions, but Paniague was never verbally abusive toward her. In November 2017, when Estrella was 19, she and her siblings lived in a three-bedroom house with Paniague, Rosario, her grandmother, and her uncle Ignacio P.2 According to Estrella, the two youngest children slept in a bedroom at the back of the house with Rosario and Paniague; Brisa and Jesus would sometimes sleep in Ignacio’s bedroom and sometimes in the living room. Estrella usually slept separately in a bedroom at the front of the house, but Jesus kept his belongings in that room and sometimes also slept there. Estrella’s bedroom had bunk beds; Estrella slept on the bottom bunk. To get into her bed, she would have to duck down to avoid the rails from the top. On November 10, 2017, Paniague…