Does the trial court erred in instructing the jury that S. was a witness with developmental disability?

California, United States of America

The following excerpt is from People v. Mendoza, G044346, Super. Ct. No. 09CF1199 (Cal. App. 2011):

Whether the trial court erred in instructing the jury is a question of law which we review de novo. (People v. Guiuan (1998) 18 Cal.4th 558, 569.) We reject defendant's multiple challenges to the instruction.
Defendant contends the instruction effectively told the jury that S.M. was a witness with a developmental disability. As he was charged with having sexual intercourse with one incapable of consenting ( 261, subd. (a)(1); counts two and three) based upon a developmental disability, he contends the instruction acted as a finding that S.M. had a developmental disability and thus undermined the presumption of innocence and lightened the prosecution's burden to establish each element beyond a reasonable doubt. (See gen. Sandstrom v. Montana (1979) 442 U.S. 510, 523 [conclusive presumption would conflict with presumption of innocence]; In re Winship (1970) 397

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