After only 2 ½ hours of deliberations, a jury on Dec. 8 convicted an Oxnard man of digital sexual penetration of a young woman who was walking to her car in La Jolla after work.
Marco Villasenor, 25, cried softly as he heard the jury’s verdict, and he was remanded to jail immediately afterwards by San Diego Superior Court Judge Louis Hanoian. He had been free on $100,000 bond.
The 26-year-old woman, her longtime boyfriend, and family members were present for the verdicts as were family members of Villasenor, some of whom were tearful. The victim and others hugged prosecutor Judy Taschner.
The seven man, five woman jury asked no questions during their deliberations, and they left the courthouse afterwards without comment. They found Villasenor guilty of rape with a foreign object in which his fingers penetrated the victim’s vagina in the March 2 incident on someone’s front lawn at 9 p.m. in the area of Exchange Place and Torrey Pines Road.
Taschner said Villasenor faces a maximum sentence of eight years in state prison. Sentencing was set for Jan. 9, 2017. Villasenor was also convicted of a misdemeanor charge of resisting arrest when he tried to break his hands free through bags which had been placed over them by police. Officers with body worn cameras taped over the broken bags three times to secure them.
A crime lab specialist, Adam Dutra, testified the victim’s DNA was found on examination of Villasenor’s hands and fingernails. Villasenor’s DNA was also found in microscopic examination of the victim’s underwear.
Villasenor’s attorney, Robert Bernstein, argued that DNA is “easily transferable” and does not show what happened. He unsuccessfully argued for an acquittal.
The victim testified Dec. 6 she left a La Jolla business where she worked at the time around 8:30 p.m. and walked alone to her car which was parked in a residential neighborhood. She told jurors “I had a really bad feeling” about a man with a hoodie following her.
She heard him run up to her on the sidewalk and he lifted her up, falling on top of her. “He spread my dress apart. He was jabbing his fingers into my vagina. I was screaming a lot. I screamed at the top of my lungs,” she testified.
She said her attacker didn’t say anything to her and he quickly ran off. She walked to her car and called her boyfriend who told her to immediately call police. Her 911 call was played to jurors. A homeowner on Exchange Place testified he heard “three loud, terrifying screams” but he couldn’t see anyone in distress from his window.
The victim identified Villasenor as the man who attacked her, but noted “he looks completely different” because he shaved off his facial hair and cut his hair shorter.
Villasenor took the stand Dec. 7 and said he was down here working on a temporary job and got lost in La Jolla. Villasenor said he saw the woman carrying two heavy bags as she left her work and he offered to carry them for her on the way to her car. He also asked for directions to a beach.
Villasenor said she started flirting with him, and he added, “We really had a great connection.” He said they stopped on a sidewalk and “she gave me a hug.” He said he began kissing her neck and she moaned when he caressed her body parts.
The defendant said she grabbed his hand and maneuvered it up her dress. Villasenor said she abruptly said, “I shouldn’t have done this” and she cursed him. “I tried to calm her down and I left,” said Villasenor.
When police contacted him, he said he was lost and wandering around closed businesses in La Jolla. When an officer asked him why he was sweating so much, he said he had eaten food at Chipotle. On the stand, Villasenor wiped his brow several times and said he has an anxiety disorder.
On cross examination, the prosecutor asked Villasenor to imitate the moaning sounds and to move his body to illustrate her movements. He made soft moaning sounds and moved his body in front of the jury.
The prosecutor brought the victim and a police officer back on the stand and they rebutted his account of the evening. The victim said he never spoke or asked for directions.
Officer Sarah Sutter testified Villasenor “absolutely matched the description of the suspect” and arrested him in the 7700 block of Fay Avenue. Sutter said she told Villasenor she was bagging his hands after he tried to wipe his hands through his hair and the patrol car’s backseat.
The trial began Dec. 5 with jury selection and the jury convicted him Dec. 8 several hours after hearing closing arguments. Villasenor, who was the sole defense witness, remains in the central jail without bail.