People v. Sandoval

On the morning of September 21, 2006, Isaias Sandoval (defendant) and his wife, A.G., from whom he was separated, began arguing. The argument turned physical. That afternoon, A.G. summoned the police. A.G. informed the responding officer that Sandoval had hit her multiple times, had threatened to kill her, and had raped her. A.G. also stated that Sandoval had destroyed her cell phone so that she would not contact the police. A.G. was brought to the hospital for a sexual-assault examination. The exam indicated that A.G. had been sexually assaulted. While at the hospital, A.G. informed the nurse that Sandoval had physically attacked her, threatened her, and raped her. The state of California (plaintiff) charged Sandoval with spousal rape with force, corporal injury to a spouse, criminal threats, and damaging a wireless communication device. At trial, A.G. testified that Sandoval had not hit or threatened her and that the sex that they had was consensual. Sandoval sought to introduce expert testimony on make-up sex from Deborah Davis, a psychology professor specializing in romantic relationships. Sandoval wanted to use the testimony to show that the sex that had occurred was consensual. The trial court excluded the testimony on the ground that Davis was not testifying about a matter beyond general knowledge and the testimony would not help the jury in deciding whether the sex was consensual. Sandoval was convicted and appealed on multiple grounds, including that the trial court had abused its discretion in excluding Davis’s testimony.