Opinion ID: 1365990
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Prior Rape and Kidnap.

Text: Defendant admitted that he had been previously convicted of kidnapping and that five years had not elapsed since the conclusion of his state prison term for that offense. The victim, Deborah S., testified that defendant picked her up hitchhiking to her job as a law clerk in San Diego in October 1975. She was 27 years old. After she got in his car he pulled a gun on her and drove more than 50 miles out of the city into the desert, where he raped her. Defendant then told Deborah he would drive her to El Centro where she could get a bus back to San Diego. When he appeared to be bypassing the town, however, Deborah struggled with defendant and escaped from his moving car. Defendant was charged with kidnapping (§ 207) and rape (§ 261), with a gun use allegation (§ 12022.5). In May 1976 he pled guilty to kidnapping; the rape charge and gun use allegation were dismissed.