Education

RICHMOND (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― With some of them wearing bulletproof vests, four teen suspects appeared for the first time in court Thursday on charges of gang raping a 15-year-old girl outside a Richmond High School's homecoming dance while as many as two dozen people watched without calling police.

Defendant Cody Ray Smith, 15, of San Pablo, pleaded not guilty, while Ari Abdallah Morales, 16, of San Pablo, and Marcelles James Peter, 17, of Pinole, did not enter pleas during their arraignment in Contra Costa County Superior Court.

Smith, Morales, and Peter were each charged with rape in concert and sexual penetration with a foreign object. They were being held without bail and could be eligible for life in prison, if convicted.

Another suspect, 19-year-old Manuel Ortega, of Richmond, was arraigned separately but did not enter a plea. He is charged with rape, robbery and assault causing great bodily injury. He was being held on $1.2 million bail.

All four teens were charged as adults because of the "extremely callous and brutal" severity of the crime, which showed "callousness and viciousness," Deputy District Attorney Dana Cashman said. 

While she has prosecuted numerous gang rape cases, this one seemed "very cold," Cashman said after the hearing.

A fifth suspect arrested, Salvador Rodriguez, 21, remained jailed on Thursday but had not yet been charged. Prosecutors were still reviewing the case against him, Cashman said.

Peter's aunt, Monica Peter, maintained he was innocent. She said before the hearing that her nephew had told her he was only a bystander and did not participate in the attack.

Asked why he didn't do anything to stop it, she said he feared "he would get his ass kicked."

The aunt described her nephew as "a very good kid, very respectable, good manners," who likes to play soccer and is good at math.

According to relatives, Peter turned himself in after Richmond police raided the home where he lives with his grandmother.

"He's innocent, so what's the point of hiding and running," said Peter's cousin, who declined to give his name.

Contra Costa County Sheriff's spokesman Jimmy Lee could not explain why the defendants wore the protective vests. But Cashman said the prosecutor's office had been getting a tremendous number of calls and e-mails about the case, mostly "expressions of outrage from all over the country."

Morales was also sporting a black eye in court from a separate incident, authorities said.

Morales' Oakland-based defense lawyer, Ernie Castillo, said he was still learning details about the case.

"I don't know what limited role, if any, my client played," Castillo said. "This was a tragic, horrible incident that happened to this young woman. This is a horrible tragedy and it's hard to understand how this could happen on an American (high school) campus."

Police have indicated that onlookers apparently laughed and joked during the attack. Police sources also previously told CBS 5 that the episode had been recorded on cell phones. 

Police said the victim left the homecoming dance about 9:30 p.m. Saturday and was walking to meet her father for a ride home when a classmate invited her to join a group drinking in the school courtyard.

The girl had consumed a large amount of alcohol by the time the assault began, police said. The girl's father tried to call her cell phone but no one answered.

Police received a tip about a possible assault on campus from a former student, who heard two males bragging about it. Officers found the girl semiconscious and naked from the waist down near a picnic table.

The victim was in critical condition when police discovered her and had to be airlifted to the hospital. She was released from a hospital Wednesday night, Cashman said.

Police were still looking for more suspects in the Saturday night attack and believed as many as 10 people ranging from 15 to the mid-20s may have attacked the girl for more than two hours in a dimly lit area as more than two dozen people watched.

A $20,000 reward was being offered for information leading to the arrests and convictions of anyone involved in the attack, Richmond police Lt. Mark Gagan said.

Anyone who wants to make a financial contribution to help the victim and her family can send a check to Richmond High School, located at 1250 23rd Street, Richmond, 94804-1011. Checks can made out to the Richmond High School Student Fund, sexual assault victim.

Security issues at Richmond High School were highlighted in a CBS 5 Investigates report last year.  The report prompted the school superintendent to address the safety issues, and led to a decision earlier this year to install new security cameras and fencing at the school, a plan that has not implemented.

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