People v. Alvarez CA2/8 ( 2024 )

Filed 2/22/24 P. v. Alvarez CA2/8
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IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT
DIVISION EIGHT
THE PEOPLE, B328776
Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County
Super. Ct. No. TA147394-01)
v.
RAMIRO G. ALVAREZ,
Defendant and Appellant.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of
Los Angeles County. John J. Lonergan, Judge. Affirmed.
Vanessa Place, under appointment by the Court of Appeal,
for Defendant and Appellant.
No appearance for Plaintiff and Respondent.
_____________________________
Defendant Ramiro Alvarez1 appeals from his judgment of
conviction for count 1, oral copulation or sexual penetration with
a child 10 years old or younger. (Pen. Code,2 § 288.7, subd. (b).)
The trial court sentenced Alvarez to 15 years to life. The court
credited Alvarez with 1,519 days actual custody credit and
228 days local conduct credit for a total of 1,747 days of
presentence custody credit.
Alvarez appealed, and his appellate counsel filed a brief
asking this court to proceed under People v. Wende (1979)
25 Cal.3d 436 (Wende). We affirm.
Jaqueline C. testified that she lived in a home with several
family members including her father, father’s wife, brother,
niece, and nephew. Guillermo, Sr., Jaqueline’s father, owned the
home. Alvarez resided in the home and lived in a bedroom in the
house.
Guillermo, Jr., (Guillermo Jr.) testified that he lived in the
home with his children, Sebastian C. and Darlene C. As of March
2018, Darlene was a one-year-old child, nearing two, and her
brother was 11 months older than Darlene. On the night of
March 3, 2018, Guillermo Jr. was in the home with his two
children. Guillermo Jr. slept in the living room with his children
on a pull-out couch. On at least one previous night, Darlene fell
off the bed when they slept on the pull-out couch. On the night of
March 3, 2018, Guillermo Jr. was positioned between the two
children as they all fell asleep. During the night, Guillermo Jr.
1 We refer to the defendant by his last name, defendant’s
relatives by their full names, and Darlene C.’s relatives by their
first names.
2 All statutory references are to the Penal Code.
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heard diapers being undone, and he saw Alvarez. He saw
Alvarez put his mouth on Darlene’s vagina. Guillermo Jr.
questioned Alvarez and kicked Alvarez out of the home. Then,
someone in the home called the police.
Thereafter, the police arrived at the home. Guillermo Jr.
and Darlene’s mother took Darlene to a children’s hospital where
testing was done. Guillermo Jr. told police that he saw Alvarez
pull Darlene’s pants down before putting his mouth on her
vagina, and in trial he admitted that he did not see Alvarez pull
her pants down.
Carolyn Clark testified that she is a forensic nurse who
performs sexual assault exams and domestic violence exams.
Clark used nasal swabs to collect reference samples, and took
samples from Darlene’s breasts, belly button, anus, and around
the outside of her mouth. Clark took genital swabs in three
different areas: the mons pubis, the vulva, and the vestibule.
A senior criminologist for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s
Department Scientific Services Bureau (Bureau), Cynthia Tse,
testified that she tested the samples for biological fluids. When
testing the mons pubis sample, Tse found evidence of saliva
because there was alpha-amylase on the sample. Although feces
also has amylase, Tse concluded that the sample was inconsistent
with feces because there was no staining on it. Tse also tested
samples for the vulva and vestibule, which were negative for
saliva.
Ilene Louie testified as a senior criminalist assigned to the
forensic biology section of the Bureau. Louie reviewed the work
for the analyst who performed the DNA tests. The Bureau
performed DNA tests on samples from the mons pubis, vulva, and
vestibule, using the nasal sample as a reference. The DNA test
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from the mons pubis returned a result consistent with two
contributors, Darlene and Alvarez. According to the test results,
Darlene was aligned best with a 62 percent contributor, and
Alvarez was best aligned with a 38 percent contributor. The lab
conducted a statistical analysis comparing the possibility that the
DNA was obtained from Darlene and Alvarez versus the
possibility that the DNA was obtained from Darlene and an
unknown individual. The DNA profile was 1.2 times 10 to the
26th power more likely that it originated from Alvarez and
Darlene than if it came from an unknown individual and
Darlene. The Bureau found no male DNA on the vulva or
vestibule samples.
Julian Alvarez, defendant Alvarez’s older brother, testified
that Alvarez did not have a reputation for having inappropriate
relationships with small children and that Alvarez was
considered an honest person at work.
Francisca Muro Vazquez, Alvarez’s girlfriend, observed
Alvarez around her one-year-old son and never saw Alvarez
behave inappropriately toward her son or any other children.
Muro Vazquez also said that Alvarez is an honest person.
Alvarez testified that he lived at Guillermo, Sr.’s home for
four years. On March 3, 2018, he got home between 10:30 p.m.
and 11:00 p.m. When he came inside the house, he went into his
room before entering the bathroom. When he went back to his
room, he saw a child on the floor. Alvarez picked up the child and
put the child into bed. At that point, Guillermo Jr. woke up and
said something to Alvarez. Prior to that moment, Alvarez did not
know which child he picked up, but realized that he picked up
Darlene when Guillermo Jr. told him to let his daughter go.
Guillermo Jr. told Alvarez to go to his room, and Alvarez told
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Guillermo Jr. to be careful with Darlene because that was not the
first time Guillermo Jr. dropped her. Alvarez went to his room
and did not understand what was happening. Alvarez went to
sleep in his room until the family knocked on his door three hours
later. The family verbally attacked him and asked him why he
did it. Alvarez was confused and saw a police officer coming
towards him. Once he was taken to a police car, Alvarez learned
of the accusation against him.
Forensic scientist Marc Taylor testified as the director of
Technical Associates, a DNA laboratory. The DNA sample from
the mons pubis had male DNA in a very small amount, about .3
nanograms. The testing for amylase indicated that saliva may be
present, but does not indicate whose saliva is present. Fecal
matter also has amylase, and it could be that fecal matter was
present. The DNA on the mons pubis could have resulted from
oral copulation or from picking up a toddler and placing her on a
bed. The DNA could have come from any number of sources such
as from people’s fingers after rubbing their eyes or mouth.
We examined the record and are satisfied Alvarez’s
appellate attorney has fully complied with the responsibilities of
counsel and no arguable issues exist. (People v. Kelly (2006)
40 Cal.4th 106, 119; Wende, supra, 25 Cal.3d at p. 441.)
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DISPOSITION
The judgment is affirmed.
VIRAMONTES, J.
WE CONCUR:
GRIMES, Acting P. J.
WILEY, J.
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