Hillary on Charlie Rose

Attorneys must review hundreds of pages before Richmond High rape suspects enter pleas

RICHMOND — A prosecutor today handed over 685 pages of documents and 28 DVDs containing evidence related to the Oct. 24 gang rape of a Richmond High School student on campus — discovery that defense attorneys said they’ll need to review before the accused can enter pleas.

“In most average felony cases you’re talking less than 100 pages,” prosecutor Dara Cashman said after the defendants identified their attorneys in a Richmond courtroom today.

More than 60 people, many of them teens supporting the defendants, watched the latest court appearance for Cody Ray Smith, 15, of San Pablo; Ari Morales, 16, of San Pablo; Marcelles Peter, 17, of Pinole; Jose Carlos Montano, 18, of Richmond; Manuel Ortega, 19, of Richmond; and Elvis Josue Torrentes, 21, of Richmond. Prosecutors said the brutality of the crime led them to charge the juvenile suspects as adults.

All the defendants but Torrentes are facing charges that call for life in prison due to a special allegation that they physically participated in the rape. Torrentes’ charges call for up to 26 years in prison.

Police say they believe they’ve arrested all the main participants in the rape, in which a 16-year-old was sexually assaulted for two hours by numerous men and boys while others watched outside the school homecoming dance.

In court today, defense attorney received an amended complaint, which now includes charges for all six defendants. Smith withdrew his previous not guilty plea so his attorney could review the prosecution’s case.  

The defendants are scheduled to return to court Dec. 1. Attorneys and family members for the defendants had no comment this afternoon.

 

Richmond mayor speaks at rally for gang rape victim

Youth Speaks at the Richmond Peace Rally

Richmond Peace Rally video.

I took this video today at the very emotional and inspiration rally in support of  the Jane Doe gang rape victim.  More pictures and commentary tomorrow.  Peace

Richmond march and rally supports rape victim

The Richmond girl gang raped outside her high school last month received a very public show of support Saturday – a march and rally.

Upwards of 200 people marched from Richmond High School to nearby Wendell Park, where speakers decried violence against women and what they see as the social forces that take such behavior in stride.

“Men need to speak to other men and say, ‘Stop,’ ” said Richard Wright, a community activist from Oakland. “Men need to stand up in this to make a cultural change, to say that rape is no longer acceptable.”

The 16-year-old victim, a sophomore at Richmond High, was sexually assaulted after leaving her homecoming dance Oct. 24. Six young men ages 15 to 21 have been charged with a variety of crimes, including rape.

Saturday’s event was organized by two San Francisco women and – judging by the responses when one speaker asked the crowd to cheer their hometowns – attended largely by people from Oakland, San Francisco and Berkeley.

But the first speaker introduced had a strong local connection: Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, who thanked people for bringing an affirmative message of support into her community.

“It’s great to hear you raising your voices loud and clear against this horrible crime, and against the horrible crimes against women that go on all the time,” McLaughlin said. “This is not about Richmond youth. This is a much larger systemic problem.”

Trailing toward the end of the march – slowed by his children, ages 1 and 4 – was Hector Salazar of Playworks, which manages recreational programs in Richmond schools.

“You’re either part of the community or you’re not,” Salazar said when asked why he and his wife had come from Oakland on his day off. “This was the main topic the last two weeks at the schools where I work. Kids know the victim or one of the boys arrested, or their brothers or sisters.”

I will post my personal video from the march a bit later.  It was a very inspirational day.  It’s time to take back our communities.  It’s time to reach out and do what we can to end violence against women. 

Read Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/07/BA501AGSQ2.DTL&type=nocolumn&tsp=1#ixzz0WEFxesTo

Please join us in Richmond on Saturday at 11:00am in front of Richmond High School.

Richmond rape victim feels betrayed by attacker

A Richmond High School student recovering from a gang rape has told police that she was betrayed that night by one of her attackers, whom she considered a trusted friend, the lead investigator in the case said Thursday.

Richmond police Sgt. Lori Curran spoke emotionally of the ordeal endured by the girl being referred to as Jane Doe, saying that the 16-year-old is in awe of the good wishes and gifts she has received as she recovers from the Oct. 24 attack outside a homecoming dance at the high school.

“The outpouring of support and love for Jane Doe is remarkable. In the 19 years that I have been here, I don’t believe I’ve ever seen anything quite like this,” Curran said.

“When she hears about what people have e-mailed about her and what people have said about her at public rallies, the letters that she’s receiving,” Curran said, “more often than not she has clutched her heart and just is in awe that these people are really doing this for her.”

While the victim is overwhelmed with the support, Curran said, she was also left “very saddened” by what happened. “She is a young girl who’s impressionable, and, I think, wonders if this is really what the world is really like.”

Curran said the girl thought of one of her attackers as a trusted friend, and was acquainted with several others from her neighborhood. Their treachery has added to her pain and trauma, she said.

“She did feel betrayed that the one she knew and trusted would let this happen to her,” Curran said. “She had a sense of trust from the others she recognized from the neighborhood.”

Now, Curran said, the teenager hopes to move forward.

“Quite honestly, she’s voiced several times that she just wants to put this behind her,” Curran said. “She wants to heal around it. Ideally, as a 16-year-old, she just wants to forget about what has happened. Unfortunately, she can’t, because her emotional healing is still in the recovery process.” (The victim previously had been reported to be 15 years old.)

Six alleged attackers face charges, while a seventh suspect has been released pending DNA evidence testing. The three juvenile suspects – all charged as adults – appeared in court Thursday. Marcelles James Peter, 17, Ari Abdallah Morales, 16, and Cody Ray Smith, 15, made brief appearances at a hearing that was continued until next week. Three adults are being held in the case, Elvis Torrentes, 21, Manuel Ortega, 19, and Jose Carlos Montano, 18.

“I think we’re satisfied with people we do have in custody, we are satisfied with what their involvement is,” Curran said. “There are still a few people we need to talk to, but as far as the participants, we have pretty much captured them all.”

Curran said that victims sometimes become uncooperative, but Jane Doe has continued to provide what information she can glean from the flashbacks and nightmares she is suffering. “She doesn’t shut down when we talk about painful things.”

Also Thursday, Richmond police released the 911 call from a woman who reported a girl naked and passed out in the rear of the school. The caller said other people had seen the girl but did not want to call authorities.

The call, which came at 11:50 p.m., prompted a police response to the assault, which took place over a 2 1/2-hour period while as many as a dozen others watched.

Curran said the community has also been instrumental in building the case.

She said that that response has been in part because of the age of the victim.

“I think that because of Jane Doe’s age … they’re so affected by it. Everybody has a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter; everybody has a relative that they can think of as Jane Doe.”

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/06/BAP81AG00E.DTL#ixzz0W8pUrPRm

Sixth suspect charged in Richmond gang rape

 (11-06) 12:16 PST RICHMOND –

A sixth suspect has been charged in connection with the gang rape of a 16-year-old Richmond High School girl who was attacked after she left a homecoming dance, a prosecutor said today.

Elvis Torrentes, 21, was charged with sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, rape by foreign object in concert and rape in concert, said Dara Cashman, a Contra Costa County deputy district attorney.

Torrentes and five other defendants will appear in a Richmond courtroom Tuesday. A seventh suspect has been released pending DNA evidence testing.

Three other defendants are juveniles who have been charged as adults: Marcelles James Peter, 17, Ari Abdallah Morales, 16, and Cody Ray Smith, 15. The other two charged are Manuel Ortega, 19, and Jose Carlos Montano, 18.

Authorities say the defendants raped the girl over two hours Oct. 24, while up to 20 others watched.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/06/BAQ61AGCHC.DTL&tsp=1#ixzz0W7HJViRz

Men Can Stop Rape! Do it now!

 

I had a commenter today who had a lot of passionte and quite relevant things to say and I wanted to share them.  Thank you, Tallon.

What difference does it make if they’re here illegally or not? Men who are American citizens rape women in this country all the time, stop trying to change the subject away from the fact that this was a brutal act of male violence towards a 15 year old female. It’s not about the city of Richmond, it’s not about the ethnic background, age, or citizenship of the rapists. It’s not about the “by-stander effect”, it’s not about the fact that she drank alcohol, or anything she may or may not have done, it is simply about male violence against women. Why do people keep trying to talk about anything and everything but what the real issue is? The issue is that we live in a culture of violence against women, and this is one of the manifestations of it. When are we gonna stop asking women to alter their behavior i.e. wear “less provocative clothing”, “don’t drink too much”, “don’t go out alone”, “don’t talk to men you don’t know”? We shouldn’t have to do anything differently than what men have to do. When a man is beaten up, robbed, or murdered, we don’t talk about how much he had to drink, we don’t say he shouldn’t have been out when and where he was, or that he was out alone, no the blame/responsibility is put exactly where it belongs, on the one(s) responsible. Well, by and large, men are responsible for the majority of the rapes, abuse, murder, etc. So men should be asking themselves and each other, what men can do to stop/prevent male violence towards women. If you are trying to skirt around this fact, YOU are part of the problem.