People v. McGrady CA5

INTRODUCTION

In 2020, a jury convicted appellant Mona Marie McGrady of two counts of lewd and lascivious conduct with a 15-year-old female victim (Pen. Code, § 288, subd. (c)(1);1 counts VIII and XII). The jury also convicted appellant of sexual penetration by a foreign object of that same victim when the victim was under 18 years of age (§ 289, subd. (h); count XIV). Although the jury convicted appellant of those three charges, it found her not guilty in nine other counts which had alleged other instances of lewd and lascivious conduct with the same victim. The trial court sentenced appellant to an aggravated prison term of four years four months. This consisted of an upper term of three years in count VIII, and two consecutive subordinate terms (one-third the midterm) of eight months. Appellant raises two claims. First, she contends that her judgment must be reversed because the jury heard about Child Sexual Abuse Accommodation Syndrome (CSAAS), which she asserts was not relevant in this matter. Second, appellant argues that the trial court abused its discretion when it denied a motion for new trial based on alleged insufficient evidence supporting the conviction in count VIII.…