People v. Hernandez CA5

INTRODUCTION

Appellant Leonardo Mondragon Hernandez was convicted of numerous sexual offenses against multiple children. He was sentenced to state prison for an aggregate term of 77 years to life. On appeal, appellant raises the following claims: (1) the trial court erred by precluding his daughter, G.H., from testifying on his behalf and failed to consider and exhaust all lesser sanctions before precluding G.H. as a witness, which prejudicially violated his right to present a complete defense; appellant alternatively requests a remand for an evidentiary hearing pursuant to Penal Code section 1260;1 (2) appellant was prejudicially denied effective assistance of counsel when his trial counsel failed to investigate all defenses and research the law applicable to the facts, for excluding G.H. as a witness without interviewing her, for not researching and knowing the law regarding a compromised witness, and for apologizing to M.H. during cross-examination; appellant alternatively requests a remand for an evidentiary hearing pursuant to section 1260; (3) the trial court prejudicially erred by treating C.H. as a hostile witness; and (4) cumulative errors prejudicially violated…