People v. Estrella CA4/2

I.

INTRODUCTION

A jury convicted defendant and appellant Luis Estrella of various offenses arising

from his sexual abuse of his step-daughter, Jane Doe. The trial court sentenced him to a

term of 270 years to life. Defendant argues the trial court erroneously instructed the jury

in two respects. We find no prejudicial error and affirm the judgment.

II.

1

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Doe, born in 2004, and her mother, R.P., moved in with defendant in 2007. In

2012, when Doe was eight years old, defendant began sexually abusing her. Over the

course of many years, defendant abused her on a virtually daily basis. Defendant orally

copulated her, forced her to orally copulate him, fondled her chest and crotch, vaginally

penetrated her, and sodomized her. Defendant routinely threatened violence against her

and her family if she told anyone about his abuse. Defendant was also consistently mean

to Doe, and told her she was “nothing” and had “no control.”

When Doe was around 11 or 12 years old, she eventually told R.P. about

defendant’s abuse in December 2017. Shortly afterward, R.P. took Doe to the police

station. Personnel at the station directed R.P. to take Doe to…