P. v. Vargas CA5
After spending an evening out at a nightclub, defendant Manuel Mendoza Vargas ended up asleep on a living room couch in an apartment where his brother-in-law’s girlfriend, her 16-year-old daughter and her 15-year-old son lived. Defendant later entered the 16-year-old victim’s unlocked bedroom and raped her twice. He was charged with two counts of rape by force (Pen. Code, § 261, subd. (a)(2)) (counts 1 and 3), two counts of rape by threat (§ 261, subd. (a)(6)) (counts 2 and 4), first degree robbery (§ 211) (count 5), criminal threats (§ 422) (count 6), dissuading a witness by force or threat (§ 136.1, subd. (c)(1)) (count 7), and dissuading a witness from reporting a crime (§ 136.1, subd. (b)(1)) (count 8). A jury convicted defendant of all eight counts and found true the burglary special circumstances allegations attached to counts 1 through 4. (§ 667.61, subds. (d)(4), (e)(2).)
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