California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from People v. Avina, 211 Cal.App.3d 48, 259 Cal.Rptr. 178 (Cal. App. 1989):
In People v. Atkins, supra, 203 Cal.App.3d 15, 249 Cal.Rptr. 863, the defendant was charged with five counts of various sexual misconduct against his stepdaughter. The victim specifically described three acts corresponding to three of the counts. However, with regard to the other two counts, she did not specify an act with any particularity, but described each act as the same as an act about which she had previously testified. (Id. at pp. 18-19, 249 Cal.Rptr. 863.) Without focusing on notice and the opportunity to formulate a defense, the court held that the failure to describe with particularity the acts supporting the latter two counts rendered the evidence insufficient and thus barred retrial. (Id. at p. 23, 249 Cal.Rptr. 863.)
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