California Court of Appeal

Conviction of defendant for forcible rape, committing lewd act on a child under age 14, and other crimes is affirmed where: 1) section 784.7(a) permits the joinder of any combination of its listed sex crimes, but requires the court to hold a section 954 joinder hearing at which the court may exercise discretion to deny joinder "in the interest of justice and for good cause shown," and here, the court did not abuse its discretion in permitting a San Bernardino offense to be joined with an Orange County offense for trial in Orange County; 2) although the trial court erroneously admitted evidence of uncharged non-sexual conduct under the purported authority of Evidence Code section 1108, the error was harmless; and 3) defendant's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel and cumulative error are rejected.

Appellate Information

• Decided 05/20/2010
• Published 05/20/2010

Judges

Court

• California Court of Appeal

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• William J. Kopeny for Defendant and Appellant., Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Dane R. Gillette, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Gil Gonzalez and Lynne G. McGinnis, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.