P. v. Crumal



Filed 5/31/11 P. v. Crumal CA4/3





NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS


California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.



IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

THE PEOPLE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. PAUL VERNON CRUMAL, Defendant and Appellant.

G040635 (Super. Ct. No. INF056849) O P I N I O N

Appeal from a judgment of the Superior Court of Riverside County, James S. Hawkins, Judge. Affirmed.
Kathleen Woods Novoa, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant.
Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Gary W. Schons, Assistant Attorney General, Rhonda Cartwright-Ladendorf and Kristen Kinnaird Chenelia, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

Appellant Paul Vernon Crumal was charged with committing six felony sex offenses against one of his nursing patients. The jury found him not guilty of three of the charges and convicted him of lesser included misdemeanors on the other three. On appeal, he claims the trial court erred in admitting evidence he had committed sexual misconduct against one of his other patients, and in admitting certain statements of the victim under the fresh complaint doctrine. Finding these claims unmeritorious, we affirm.
FACTS
On November 15, 2006, Kathryn P. suffered a concussion and blunt force torso trauma in a car accident. She went home afterwards, but the next morning she returned to the hospital and was treated in the emergency room. She was given morphine for her pain and a sedative to help her relax. She also took some of her own medications for depression and bipolar disorder. By the time she was transferred to her hospital room that evening, she was feeling lethargic and disoriented from the drugs. But before going to bed, she met appellant, her nursing assistant, and they chatted briefly.
The following evening, Kathryn was still groggy from her medications. At one point she woke to find appellant standing by her bed. He said he needed to take her blood pressure, and she told him she had to use the bathroom. Although she was feeling rather out of it, she managed to make it to the lavatory in her room. On the way out, though, she lost her balance, and appellant caught her. Instead of helping her back to her bed, he held her tightly and tried to kiss her. She turned her head, pushed him away, and made it back to her bed on her own.
Once there, she told appellant she needed to lie down and cover up. However, he pushed away her blankets and put his hand on her thigh. He also pulled up her nightshirt and touched and licked her breast. Kathryn told him to stop, but he grabbed her hand and put it on the crotch of his scrubs, over his erect penis. When she pulled her hand away, he lowered his pants and told her she was going to â€