Filed 6/25/21 P. v. Maldonado CA2/8 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.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 SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION EIGHT THE PEOPLE, B307089 Plaintiff and Respondent, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. NA106453) v. IRVIN DAVID MALDONADO Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from an order of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. James D. Otto, Judge. Affirmed. Douglas J. Jalaie, Esq., for Defendant and Appellant. Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Lance E. Winters, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Susan Sullivan Pithey, Assistant Attorney General, Steven D. Matthews and Ryan M. Smith, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. _________________________ INTRODUCTION In 2019, appellant Irvin D. Maldonado filed a motion to vacate his 2017 conviction of lewd acts on a child under the age of 14. Maldonado claimed his attorney failed to advise him about the adverse immigration consequences of taking the plea deal. Appellant also claimed to have new evidence of actual innocence in that the child recanted her allegations against him. The trial court denied appellant’s motion. We affirm. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND I. 2017 Felony Conviction of Lewd Act upon a Child On May 17, 2017, the People filed a felony complaint against appellant, charging him with 10 counts of committing a lewd act upon a child under the age of 14, in violation of Penal Code1 section 288, subdivision (a). The named victim is his stepdaughter Vanessa D. (Vanessa). We glean from the probation officer’s report that Vanessa told her grandmother she was being molested by her stepfather; grandmother then took Vanessa to the police. Vanessa reported that when she was eight years old, she “was sleeping and awaken[ed] to her stepfather touching her vagina with his fingers.” She was “afraid” and pretended to be asleep, and he continued to fondle her for 40 minutes. He had shown her his penis several times and had masturbated in front of her. She said he “touched her butt and put his fingers in her rectum.” She also said he had showed her movies of “two girls having sex.” 1 Further undesignated statutory references are to the Penal Code. 2 Vanessa, now age 10, reported the abuse continued to take place. She had cried and asked appellant to stop, but appellant told her “not to tell anyone.” The police interviewed appellant, who “initially denied his actions, but later admitted” Vanessa had touched his penis, and he had touched her buttocks and “penetrated the lips of her vagina with his fingernail tips.” He admitted this happened on numerous occasions. On August 31, 2017, appellant, represented by counsel Adrian Woodward, pleaded no contest to two counts of committing a lewd act upon a child. He was sentenced to three years …
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