Convicted of horrible sex crimes, Filberto Morales Matus is presently serving a prison sentence in Ironwood State Prison at Blythe, but he believes he's incarcerated because of a mistake.
R. Clayton Seaman, Jr,, a lawyer representing Matus argues that veteran Superior Court Judge Carla M. Singer botched her instructions to jury by failing to read them a provision about how to evaluate conflicting evidence.
Guess what?
]
Seaman and Matus are right.
This week, a California Court of Appeal based in Santa Ana ruled that Singer failed to give the proper instructions.
But Matus isn't jumping for joy.
The justices–Richard D. Fybel, Kathleen E. O'Leary and William W. Bedsworth–also opined that the error wasn't prejudicial to the defense.
Upshot:
Matus, 23, will continue to serve his 26-year prison sentence, which is
probably terrific news for one of his cousins. During a 10-month period
in 2006 and 2007, he repeatedly fondled, raped, sodomized and
ejaculated into the minor's mouth. The unconscionable abuse ended one day when his aunt
found him molesting her daughter and contacted authorities.
Wondering about Matus' trial defense?
The
fifth grade girl wouldn't stop pulling down his pants and demanding sex when they were alone, he claimed.
An
Orange County jury didn't buy it. They convicted him on eight felony
charges and agreed with prosecutors in the District Attorney's office
that he was guilty of committing an enhancement involving prolonged
sexual conduct with a minor.
Listen up, dudes: It is against the
law for an adult to have sex with a minor. If you think you can cleverly
claim that the kid initiated the sex, that will never, ever work
(unless you are a female molester). By state law, a child can't consent
to sexual relations.
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CNN-featured investigative reporter R. Scott Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; obtained one of the last exclusive prison interviews with Charles Manson disciple Susan Atkins; won inclusion in Jeffrey Toobin’s The Best American Crime Reporting for his coverage of a white supremacist’s senseless murder of a beloved Vietnamese refugee; launched multi-year probes that resulted in the FBI arrests and convictions of the top three ranking members of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department; and gained praise from New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing entrenched Southern California law enforcement corruption.