AI Generated Opinion Summaries

This summary was computer-generated without any editorial revision. It is not official, has not been checked for accuracy, and is NOT citable.

Facts

• The case involves allegations made by K.D., the daughter of the defendant's ex-girlfriend, Valerie. The defendant, Francisco Matteson, was accused of sexually abusing K.D. during the time he lived with Valerie and her daughters. The abuse was reported to have occurred on multiple occasions before and after K.D.'s sixth-grade school year. K.D. disclosed the abuse to her adult sister, leading to the defendant's confrontation and denial of the allegations (para 2).

Procedural History

• [Not applicable or not found]

Parties' Submissions

• Defendant-Appellant: Argued that the district court committed evidentiary errors by admitting testimony about text messages without proper foundation proving he was the sender, admitting impermissible propensity evidence through text messages sent to the victim’s mother, and allowing testimony about an uncharged act of sexual abuse against the victim. Additionally, claimed the district court violated his right to allocution before sentencing (paras 1, 3, 9, 16).
• Plaintiff-Appellee (State): Conceded that the district court did not afford the defendant the opportunity to allocute prior to sentencing, implying agreement with the need for resentencing on this basis (para 23).

Legal Issues

• Whether the district court abused its discretion by admitting testimony about text messages believed to be sent by the defendant without establishing he was the sender.
• Whether the district court erred in admitting text messages sent to the victim’s mother as impermissible propensity evidence.
• Whether the district court improperly allowed testimony about an uncharged act of sexual abuse.
• Whether the defendant’s right to allocution before sentencing was violated (paras 3, 9, 16, 23).

Disposition

• The convictions for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual penetration and one count of attempted second-degree criminal sexual contact of a minor were affirmed.
• The sentence was reversed and remanded for resentencing due to the violation of the defendant's right to allocution (para 25).

Reasons

• ATTREP, Judge: Concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the contested evidence, including the testimony about text messages and the text messages sent to Valerie, as they were deemed to have sufficient foundation for admissibility and relevance to showing consciousness of guilt. However, the court agreed that the defendant's right to allocution was violated, necessitating a reversal of the sentence and remand for a new sentencing hearing. The court found any error in admitting testimony about an uncharged act of sexual abuse to be harmless, given the limited role this evidence played at trial and its minimal impact on the verdict (paras 3-22).
  Concurred: JACQUELINE R. MEDINA, Judge; GERALD E. BACA, Judge agreed with the reasoning and conclusions of Judge ATTREP (para 26).