Description: Riverside, California criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant charged with 14 counts of committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child under the age of 14 years old.


In March 2017, when the victim was 13 years old, the victim told her mother (Mother) about defendant molesting her. Mother was upset and defendant moved out of the home. However, the victim felt bad about the situation, in part because defendant provided the majority of the family's income. The victim told Mother that the molestation was not as bad as it actually was and that Mother should let defendant return to the home. Mother permitted defendant to return, and the victim had a lock put on her bedroom door in order to prevent defendant from molesting her.

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Dr. Marvin Pietruszka is a board certified specialist in preventative medicine, toxicology, and pathology. Pietruszka met with defendant in January 2019 for one hour. Pietruszka confirmed that defendant has diabetes. Pietruszka explained that some diabetics "may sleep walk or sleep talk or sleep eat or verbalize some sexual terminologies or even participate in sexual activities and not even recall the event. [That activity] relates to the hypoglycemic episode that has caused damage to specific brain centers." Such acts that occur during sleep are parasomnias, which "are true medical conditions." Pietruszka opined that defendant's molestation of the victim was attributable to defendant's diabetes.

Outcome: Affirmed

Plaintiff's Experts:

Defendant's Experts:

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