People v. Penna CA3

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

Factual Background Defendant and Theresa began dating in 2002 and in 2005 they were married and their daughter Saleen was born. Defendant began dating other women after 2008. In 2017, Theresa and Saleen went to live at a transitional group home in Sacramento;

Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code.

2 Theresa worked at the home in exchange for lodging. Defendant worked at the home as a handyman, and he periodically went to the home to pick up Saleen for school and drop her off from school. Some of the group home’s tenants complained that they were afraid of defendant, and there were constant problems and arguments between defendant and Theresa. One witness testified at trial that Theresa had told her about an incident in May 2018 in which defendant hit her after accusing her of being romantically involved with another resident, leaving her with a knot or bruise on the top of her head. Sometime after that incident, the home’s management stopped hiring defendant to do handiwork and prohibited him from being at the home. At trial, the prosecution introduced evidence of multiple other uncharged instances of domestic violence that…