People v. Hernandez CA4/1

── People v. Hernandez CA4/1 ── Court: California Court of Appeal Date: June 08, 2026 Category: General Filed 6/8/26 P. v. Hernandez CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115. COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT DIVISION ONE STATE OF CALIFORNIA THE PEOPLE, D087440 Plaintiff and Respondent, v. (Super. Ct. No. FVI21003506) ENRIQUE LUIS HERNANDEZ, Defendant and Appellant. APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Bernardino County, Debra Harris, Judge. Affirmed. James M. Crawford, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Appellant. Rob Bonta, Attorney General, Charles C. Ragland, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Arlene A. Sevidal, Assistant Attorney General, Steve Oetting and Joshua Trinh, Deputy Attorneys General, for Plaintiff and Respondent. A jury convicted Enrique Luis Hernandez of, among other counts, one count of sexual penetration by force of a victim under the age of 14 (Pen. Code, § 289, subd. (a)(1)(B); count 8). In a bifurcated proceeding, the court found true five aggravating factors. Hernandez was sentenced to a cumulative prison term of 20 years plus 145 years to life, including a 12-year, upper-term sentence for count 8. On appeal, Hernandez claims insufficient evidence of force, violence, duress, menace, or fear of immediate and unlawful bodily injury supports his conviction of count 8. Resolving this matter by memorandum opinion (see generally People v. Garcia (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 847), we disagree and affirm. I. Hernandez is I.R.’s mother’s cousin. A. At trial, I.R. testified that from the time she was around six years old until she was 13, Hernandez touched her sexually about 20 times. The last time Hernandez sexually touched I.R. was July 4, 2021, when she was 13 years old. I.R. was at her godmother’s house, and Hernandez was living in a trailer in the front yard. Hernandez “grabbed [I.R.] and pulled [her] inside his trailer.” I.R. “didn’t go willingly.” Once I.R. was in the trailer, Hernandez pulled her pants down. He then “put his hand over [her] back[,] and he . . . stuck something inside of [her].” He put a “round,” “bumpy” object that “hurt” and “went in and out” “[i]nside [her] vagina.” While Hernandez was doing this, I.R. “was telling him to stop.” I.R. confirmed she was “trying to get away,” explaining that she “was trying to move but he had his hand on [her] back” while she was facedown. She “felt, like, something came out of [her],” and then Hernandez stuck his penis inside her vagina and had sex with her. She tried to scream for help, but he “told [her] to shut up and not make any noise.” 2  The incident lasted about 20 minutes. Afterward, Hernandez told I.R. that if she “ever told anybody, that he was going to come and hurt [her].” B. During an interview with law enforcement, a videotape of which was played for the jury, Hernandez described the incident in the trailer. He claimed he had been using a sex toy when I.R. entered his trailer to let him know food was ready. He told her to come over to him, turn around, and “slightly bend over[] or like hunch over.” He said he only “tapped her” with his hand to get her to bend over. Hernandez then pulled down her pants, stuck his index finger inside her vagina, took out his finger, and began rubbing his penis “[b]et