CSI Details Evidence In Richmond High School Rape Case
RICHMOND (BCN) - A Richmond crime scene investigator continued her testimony Wednesday in the preliminary hearing for the seven defendants accused of gang raping a 16-year-old girl outside Richmond High School's homecoming dance in October 2009.
Officer Joanna Grivetti's identified numerous pieces of evidence found and photographed at the crime scene, including a used condom that was found in a bush and the victim's white cotton panties, which were on the ground.
Grivetti also described the wounds on the victim's body, including scrapes on her back, knees, the tops of her feet and the knuckles of her toes. She also had an injury that deformed her left cheek, Grizetti said.
Most of the morning was taken up with legal arguments about Grizetti's qualifications to testify as an expert witness in the area of wound identification.
The alleged rape happened on Oct. 24, 2009, in a courtyard area on the north side of the campus.
Richmond police officers Todd Kaiser and Gunnar Googins testified Monday that they were dispatched to the school at 11:48 p.m.
As they were approaching the school, Kaiser shined his flashlight through a chain-link fence and saw a group of males standing near a picnic table.
When the group saw the officers, they took off running, Kaiser said.
The officers went around to try to head them off, but didn't catch them.
When they entered the courtyard, they found the victim draped over a metal bar underneath a picnic table. Her dress was pulled up to expose the lower part of her body, and she had vomit dripping out of her mouth and appeared to be unconscious. Kaiser said at first he thought she was dead, but when he shook her, she moaned.
They radioed for medical personnel and more officers to respond.
Officer Gary Lewis testified Tuesday that he saw one of the suspects, 20-year-old Richmond resident Manuel Ortega, run in front of his patrol car as he approached the school that night.
Lewis made a U-turn and passed the spot again. When he turned off his lights, he saw the Ortega come out from behind a car and pulled up next to him.
As Lewis was contacting dispatch, the man took off running, Lewis said. Lewis got out of his car and chased him, catching up to him about 30 yards away.
"I grabbed him by the right shoulder and he immediately spun around and just started flailing his arms, throwing punches left and right," Lewis testified.
Lewis, who is 6 feet 9 inches tall, was able to hold Ortega at arm's length, and eventually managed to handcuff him before backup officers arrived.
During his arrest, Ortega allegedly continued to fight with the officer and made numerous statements claiming that he was innocent and that the victim had wanted them to have sex with her, according to Lewis' testimony.
Ortega was the only suspect arrested that night.
The other defendants in the case are San Pablo residents Cody Smith, 16, and Ari Morales, 17; Pinole resident Marcelles Peter, 18; and Richmond residents John Crane Jr., 43, Jose Montano, 19, and Elvis Torrentes, 22.
The three suspects who were juveniles at the time of the crime— Smith, Morales and Peter—have been charged as adults.
Testimony in the hearing, which will allow the judge to determine if there is enough evidence to bring the case to trial, is scheduled to continue this afternoon in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Martinez.
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