Filed 10/1/14 P. v. Flores CA4/1 

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COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT 

DIVISION ONE 

STATE OF CALIFORNIA 

THE PEOPLE, 

 Plaintiff and Respondent, 

 v. 

RICHARD FLORES, 

 Defendant and Appellant. 

 D065273 

 (Super. Ct. No. SCN303121) 

 APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, 

Kathleen M. Lewis, Judge. Reversed in part, affirmed in part, and remanded with 

directions. 

 Thomas Owen, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and 

Appellant. 

 Kamala D. Harris, Attorney General, Julie L. Garland, Assistant Attorney General, 

William M. Wood and Paige B. Hazard, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and 

Respondent. 
2 

 The appellant in this case, Richard Flores molested his granddaughter on a 

continual basis for approximately eight years since she was six and one-half years old. 

 A jury convicted Flores of 26 counts of felony child molestation including the 

offenses of aggravated sexual assault (Pen. Code,1 §§ 288a, subd. (c)(2); 269, 

subd. (a)(4)), sexual penetration by force (§§ 269, subd. (a)(5); 289, subd. (a)(1)) and 20 

counts of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14 (§ 288, subd. (a)(1)). The jury also 

found true enhancements as to numerous counts under section 1203.066, 

subdivision (a)(8). 

 The court sentenced Flores to an indeterminate term of 90 years to life, 

consecutive to a determinate term of 46 years. 

 Flores appeals challenging only the sufficiency of the evidence to support counts 

11 and 12 which alleged oral copulation of the victim by Flores at a residence on Rush 

Street. After reviewing the record we agree there is no evidence that acts of oral 

copulation of the victim by Flores occurred prior to the family's move away from that 

house. Accordingly, we must reverse those two convictions and vacate the true finding 

on the enhancement alleged as to those counts. We will remand the case to the trial court 

to modify the sentence by removing the two consecutive two-year terms for counts 11 

and 12. We will direct the court to modify the abstract of judgment accordingly and 

forward the amended abstract to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. We 

will affirm the balance of the judgment. 

 

1 All further statutory references are to the Penal Code unless otherwise specified. 
3 

STATEMENT OF FACTS 

 In this appeal, Flores does not challenge the sufficiency of the evidence to support 

the 24 felony convictions other than counts 11 and 12. Further, Flores does not challenge 

the admissibility of the evidence or the credibility of the victim. Accordingly, we will 

only set forth a brief summary of the facts to provide context. We will discuss the facts 

of counts 11 and 12 in the discussion section of this opinion. 

 The victim in this case, S., was removed from her parents in 2000. She was placed 

with her grandparents, Flores and his wife, at a house on Rush Street in Oceanside in 

2002. 

 When S. was in the first grade, Flores began molesting her. The molestations 

occurred weekly. The types of molestations included touching, digital penetration and 

forced oral copulation of Flores by S. 

 When S. was in the fifth grade the family moved to a residence on Kiva Lane. 

The molestation continued on a regular basis and also included oral copulation of S. by 

Flores and attempts by Flores to penetrate her vagina with his penis. 

 In 2011, when S. was 15, friends persuaded her to report the abuse. 

DISCUSSION 

 Flores contends the evidence is insufficient to prove counts 11 and 12. These 

counts alleged acts of oral copulation by Flores on S. while the family lived on Rush 

Street. During S.'s testimony she was questioned about certain acts of molestation 

occurring at the Rush Street house. During direct examination she testified: 
4 

"Q: Let's talk for a few minutes about oral copulation. And I want to 

focus right now with you to him. Was there ever a time where your 

mouth came in contact with his penis?" 

"A: Yes. 

[¶] . . . [¶] 

"Q: How often did this type of conduct happen with your mouth 

coming in contact with his penis? 

"A: On Rush? 

"Q: Yes. 

"A: I don't recall. 

"Q: To the best of your ability, was it similar to him touching your 

breasts and your vaginal area? 

"A: No, it was not as often. 

"Q: Was it more than once? 

"A: Yes. 

"Q: Was it more than twice? 

"A: Yes. 

"Q: Was this oral contact from you to him, was this happening when 

you first lived at the Rush Street address or later on? 

"A: Later on. 

"Q: But still more than twice just in this home? 

"A: Yes." 

The questioning continued: 

"Q: So let's talk about kind of the reverse of that. Did his mouth 

ever come in contact with your vaginal or genital area? 
5 

"A: I don't recall any times on Rush. 

"Q: Do you recall times at another location? 

"A: Yes. 

"Q: Where was that? 

"A: Kiva. 

"Q: But you don't recall that specifically at Rush Avenue? 

"A: I do not." 

 As we will explain, we have not found any testimony by S. or any other witness 

that acts of oral copulation of S. by Flores occurred while the family lived at the Rush 

Street house. 

A. Standard of Review 

 When we review a claim of insufficiency of the evidence to support a conviction 

we apply the familiar substantial evidence standard of review. Under that standard we 

review the entire record, drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the jury's decision. 

We do not weigh the evidence or make credibility decisions. Rather we seek to 

determine whether there is substantial evidence in the record from which a reasonable 

jury could have found each element of the alleged offense to have been proved beyond a 

reasonable doubt. (Jackson v. Virginia (1979) 443 U.S. 307, 318-319; People v. Johnson

(1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 578; People v. Ledesma (2006) 39 Cal.4th 641, 721.) 
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B. Analysis 

 The record demonstrates that S. did not testify about any acts of oral copulation by 

Flores while the family lived at the Rush Street house. The People do not disagree with 

Flores assertion that there is no testimony from the victim identifying oral copulation by 

Flores until the family moved to the Kiva Lane house. Rather, the People, relying on 

People v. Jones (1990) 51 Cal.3d 294, 314 (Jones), contend that "generic" testimony by a 

victim that describes acts recurring over a period of time can support convictions. We 

find the principles of Jones are not applicable to the evidence in this case. 

 The court in Jones, supra, 51 Cal.3d 294 dealt with a number of questions relating 

to charging child molestation offenses, including those involving multiple acts of 

molestation occurring over time. In that case the offenses were charged as occurring 

from one date to a later date, such as January to November of a particular year. The court 

explained that the child has to describe the particular type of activity involved, but it is 

not necessary to always have precise dates in cases of continuing molestation. Thus, in 

Jones so called "generic" testimony of the nature of the acts and their frequency over a 

specified time period could support a conviction for the continuing molestation over the 

time period. (Id. at p. 314.) That holding does not impact the case before us. 

 There was generic testimony relating to acts occurring at the Rush Street house 

and the acts later at the Kiva Lane house. There is no problem with that testimony nor is 

there a challenge here to the sufficiency of such evidence to support the multiple counts 

of sexual molestation. The difference here is in the manner of the pleading of the 

offenses in counts 11 and 12. 
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 In count 11 Flores was charged with a violation of section 288, subdivision (a) as 

follows: Count 11: "to wit: father2 orally copulates victim's vagina at Rush Street 

house, FIRST time. Count 12 similarly alleged: "to wit: father orally copulates victim's 

vagina at Rush Street house, LAST time." 

 In this case, contrary to Jones, supra, 51 Cal.3d 294, the charges of a specific type 

of molestation, i.e., oral copulation by Flores in counts 11 and 12 were "generic" to the 

time period S. lived with the family at the Rush Street house, and not a generalized 

allegation that Flores committed this type of act regularly or over many years. Rather, 

the charges in those counts focus on a specific, albeit lengthy period of time. Having 

such allegations in mind, we have been unable to find any evidence in this record that 

Flores orally copulated S. at any time prior to the move to Kiva Lane. On the contrary, 

the only evidence at trial was that S. denied such conduct occurred during that time 

period. Thus, this is not a case of the sufficiency of generic testimony about a type of act 

occurring in a defined time period. Rather, this is a case where there is no evidence, 

direct, circumstantial or "generic" to support counts 11 and 12. Therefore we have no 

choice but to reverse the convictions on those counts. 

DISPOSITION 

 The convictions on counts 11 and 12, together with the enhancement alleged in 

each of the two counts, are reversed for insufficient evidence. The case is remanded to 

the superior court with directions to modify the judgment by striking the sentences for 

 

2 Although Flores was S.'s grandfather he and his wife adopted S. in 2004. 
8 

those counts and to modify the abstract of judgment accordingly. The court is directed to 

forward the amended abstract to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. In all 

other respects the judgment is affirmed. 

HUFFMAN, Acting P. J. 

WE CONCUR: 

 McDONALD, J. 

 AARON, J.