Nov 10, 2009 9:43 pm US/Pacific
Richmond Gang Rape Suspects Delay Pleas
RICHMOND (BCN) ―
-
-
Police cars sit parked outside Richmond High School.
AP
-
-
19-year-old suspect Manuel Ortega
Richmond PD
-
-
18-year-old suspect Jose Carlos Montano.
Richmond Police Department
-
-
21-year-old suspect Elvis Torrentes.
CBS
Six suspects in the October 24 gang rape of a 16-year-old girl outside the Richmond High School homecoming dance were arraigned in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Richmond Tuesday, but delayed entering pleas.
During the hearing, Senior Deputy District Attorney Dara Cashman gave each of the defendant's attorneys the discovery in the case. Each attorney was given 685 pages of written discovery and 28 DVDs containing interviews and photographs. Cashman said the information turned over today did not include any DNA evidence, which has not yet come back from the crime lab.
She said the evidence in the case is extensive.
"In most average felony cases you're talking less than 100 pages," she said.
The suspects include San Pablo residents Cody Smith, 15, and Ari Morales, 16; Pinole resident Marcelles Peter, 17; and Richmond residents Manuel Ortega, 19, Jose Montano, 18, and Elvis Torrentes, 21.
According to police, as many as 10 people robbed, beat and raped the victim for two-and-a-half hours in a secluded area of the campus beginning around 9:30 p.m. while as many as a dozen others stood by and watched.
The three juveniles have been charged as adults with rape by a foreign object while acting in concert. Morales has also been charged with robbery, according to the criminal complaint.
Ortega has been charged with forcible rape while acting in concert, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and robbery.
Montano has been charged with forcible rape while acting in concert and rape by a foreign object while acting in concert.
Torrentes has been charged with rape by a foreign object of a person unable to resist due to intoxication, rape by a foreign object while acting in concert and rape while acting in concert, Cashman said.
All of the defendants except for Torrentes also face enhancements that make them eligible for a life sentence, Cashman said.
Although she declined to talk about the facts of the case, Cashman said that, in general, to charge a suspect with such enhancements, prosecutors would need proof that a defendant personally penetrated the victim with an object or his body.
If somebody is present when a rape is committed and facilitates it in some way, but doesn't commit the actual rape, he can still be charged with the crime but not the enhancement, Cashman said.
Attorneys for the defendants did not wish to comment on the cases Tuesday.
All six defendants are scheduled to return to Contra Costa County Superior Court in Richmond at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 1 to enter pleas.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
Eye On Blogs: Comments Blast 'Snitches' On MySpace Page
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Click to enlarge
Vallejo Mayor Responds To Spike In Violence 41 mins ago 
Anthem Asked To Justify California Rate Hike 5 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments