State v. Puente-Gomez

WALTERS, Chief Judge.

Noel Puente-Gomez (Gomez) was charged with committing lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor under the age of sixteen. I.C. § 18-1508. Gomez, a twenty-one year old male, was tried for having committed the lewd conduct with a fourteen-year old girl. What appears to have been a consensual period of “cruising” in his car, drinking wine coolers, and kissing and hugging, turned into a forced attempt to engage in sexual intercourse. A jury found him guilty, and the court imposed a determinate seven-year period of confinement to be followed by an additional indeterminate…