California Court of Appeals, Fourth District, Second Division
[CERTIFIED
FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION] [*]
[256
Cal.Rptr.3d 632] APPEAL from the Superior Court of San
Bernardino County. Kyle S. Brodie, Judge. Affirmed in part,
reversed in part, and remanded with directions. (Super.Ct.No.
FSB1502285)
COUNSEL
Steven
A. Torres, under appointment by the Court of Appeal,
Pasadena, for Defendant and Appellant.
Xavier
Becerra, Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Chief Assistant
Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney
General, Scott C. Taylor and Charles C. Ragland, Deputy
Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
OPINION
MENETREZ J.
Page 391
[256
Cal.Rptr.3d 633] A jury convicted Stephen Darrell Taylor of
numerous sex offenses against his adopted daughters, Jane Doe
1 and Jane Doe 2. In total, the jury convicted him on 12
counts. The trial court sentenced him to prison for a
one-year determinate term and an aggregate indeterminate term
of 165 years to life.
On
appeal, Taylor argues that the court erred by admitting
expert testimony on child sexual abuse accommodation syndrome
(accommodation syndrome) and instructing the jurors that they
could use that evidence to evaluate the victims’ credibility.
He also asserts several sentencing errors. He argues that the
court erred by (1) imposing two indeterminate terms under the
former
Page 392
"One Strike" law (Pen. Code,[1] former � 667.61,
subd. (a)) for two offenses that occurred during a single
occasion, (2) imposing multiple punishments for four counts
of aggravated sexual assault and four counts of lewd acts
arising from the same facts, and (3) imposing a restitution
fine and court operations and facilities fees without an
ability to pay hearing.
We
agree that the court erred by imposing multiple punishments
on four counts of aggravated sexual assault (counts 1 through
4) and four counts of forcible lewd acts (counts 5 through 8)
that arose from the same conduct. Accordingly, we stay
Taylor’s sentence on counts 5 through 8. We also agree that
the court should hold an ability to pay hearing, at least as
to the court operations and facilities fees. We therefore
reverse the order imposing those fees and remand for a
hearing on Taylor’s ability to pay them. As to the
restitution fine, Taylor has forfeited his contention. We
otherwise reject Taylor’s arguments and affirm.
BACKGROUND
I.
Offenses Against Doe 1
Doe 1
was 18 years old when she testified at trial. She and Doe 2
are sisters. Doe 1, Doe 2, and their younger brother and
sister were placed in the Taylor household as foster
children. Doe 1 was in preschool when she was placed with the
Taylors. They adopted her, but she did not recall at what
age. She was removed from their home in 2008, when she was
about nine years old.
With
respect to Doe 1, the amended information charged Taylor with
four counts of aggravated sexual assault (rape) of a child (�
� 261, subd. (a)(2), 269, subd. (a)(1)), one count for each
year between 2004 and 2008. It also charged him with four
counts of forcible lewd acts on a child (� 288, subd.
(b)(1)), one count for each year between 2004 and 2008.
Doe 1
was five years old when Taylor first raped her, and he
continued to do so approximately once per week until she was
removed from his home. He would take off his clothes and
insert his penis into her vagina. She tried to push him off
of her sometimes but was unable to do so. She told Taylor
that she was going to report his sexual abuse. He said no one
would [256 Cal.Rptr.3d 634] help her or believe her because
she was a child.
Taylor
and his wife physically abused Doe 1 by hitting her with
belts, hangers, or spoons. Doe 1 told a social worker
investigating the physical
Page 393
abuse about Taylor’s sexual abuse. The social worker talked
to Taylor’s wife about it, and his wife "hit [Doe 1] for
that." Doe 1 was removed from the Taylor household
because of the physical abuse.
Years
later, in 2013, Doe 1 disclosed Taylor’s sexual abuse to her
foster mother. In March 2013, a forensic interviewer spoke
with Doe 1, and a forensic pediatrician examined her.
Detective Jason Frey of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s
Department observed Doe 1’s interview with the forensic
interviewer. She reported that Taylor would remove his
clothes, remove her clothes, and insert his penis into her
vagina.
The
forensic pediatrician concluded with reasonable medical
certainty that Doe 1 had sustained a penetrating injury to
her genitalia. The doctor discovered two abnormalities in Doe
1’s genital area. She had a scar and tissue missing from her
hymen. The abnormalities indicated that Doe 1 had suffered a
penetrating injury that tore her hymen. Together with Doe 1’s
disclosures during interviews, the doctor’s findings were
"highly suspicious for sexual abuse."
In
April 2015, Detective Frey called Taylor and pretended to be
a counselor who was treating Doe 1. The detective had his
wife pretend to be Doe 1 on the phone call. The detective’s
wife confronted Taylor about the sexual abuse. Taylor did not
directly acknowledge the abuse but did not deny it. When the
detective’s wife, acting as Doe 1, asked Taylor "if he
hated her when he did the sex things to her," Taylor
said that he did not hate her, but he hated himself. He
apologized to her more than once during the conversation. He
also told her that he was sexually abused as a young boy, and
"it took him many years to forgive that person." He
said that forgiving someone meant " ‘[t]o forgive and
never bring it up again.’ "
In
June 2015, Detective Frey and another officer interviewed
Taylor at the sheriff’s station. Taylor initially denied
sexually abusing Doe 1 but then admitted to twice penetrating
her vagina with his finger and twice penetrating her vagina
with his penis.
Around
this same time, Taylor’s son confronted Taylor about Doe 1’s
and Doe 2’s allegations of sexual abuse. Taylor said,
"some of it was true," and he specifically admitted
to " ‘penis penetration,’ " but would say nothing
further.
II.
Offenses Against Doe 2
Doe 2
was 19 years old when she testified at trial. Taylor and his
wife adopted Doe 2 at age five, and she was removed from
their home at about
Page 394
age 10. She is deaf and learned sign language at age 11,
after she left the Taylor household. Taylor and his wife did
not know sign language. Doe 2 communicated with them using
their "home language," which she described as
...