Opinion ID: 1207988
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Underlying Offense

Text: At approximately 10:25 p.m. on December 31, 1985, the victim, a 19-year-old waitress, left the restaurant where she worked to walk home. During the one-mile walk to her apartment, she noticed a man following her. Defendant approached her as she was walking south along Dobson Road, a well-traveled north-south street in Mesa, Arizona, and wished her Happy New Year's. Defendant then grabbed the victim by her neck, hair, and arm, and dragged her away toward a grassy embankment. Defendant threatened to kill her if she screamed. While defendant was dragging the victim, he began battering her face by bringing her head into his fist. The victim stated that she believed defendant was trying to knock her unconscious because of the amount of force he was using. She remembers 3 or 4 hard blows to her face, but thinks she may have been unconscious during part of this time. She testified that she had never experienced so much pain in [her] whole life, not even during childbirth. After defendant finished hitting the victim, he continued dragging her. Defendant then threw her facedown in the dirt approximately 30 to 50 feet from where he first grabbed her. By this time, the victim's face was bleeding very badly and her eyes were bloody. She thought she was going to die. Defendant ordered her to get up on her knees and began sexually assaulting her. He ripped the victim's pantyhose and underwear down to her ankles, scratching her in the process. He then sexually assaulted the victim by inserting his fingers really roughly, harshly, into her vagina, hurting her really bad. The victim offered defendant money, but he said that he did not want her money; he wanted a little piece for New Year's. After several unsuccessful attempts, defendant inserted his penis into the victim's vagina. During this portion of the assault, defendant roughly scratched her chest, back, and buttocks. The victim's face continued to bleed throughout the sexual assaults; investigators found two large pools of blood on the ground where the assaults occurred. Following the second sexual assault, while defendant was dressing, the victim heard a metal sound she thought might be a knife or gun and turned to look. Defendant kicked her full force in the face and told her not to look at him. After again threatening that he would kill her if she turned him in, defendant fled. The victim removed her pantyhose and underwear and placed them on her face because it was bleeding so badly. A police officer traveling north on Dobson Road heard the victim scream and stopped to assist her. The officer testified that the victim had blood on her face, hair, and hands when she approached the police car, and that she continued to bleed inside the car. The victim testified that she had never seen so much blood. The officer took the victim to a nearby police station for immediate paramedic attention and then to the hospital. The victim suffered an open nasal fracture. Hospital personnel initially thought she had been shot because the top part of her nose had separated at the bridge causing a quarter-inch hole. Her entire face was very swollen, and she had multiple bruises. She suffered particularly severe bruising and swelling below her left eye. The doctor who examined the victim stated that the injuries to her eye were consistent with someone punching or kicking her. She also had redness and scratches on her chest, buttocks, and back. Her bruises and black eyes took 3 to 4 months to heal. The appearance of her nose was completely changed; she still has lumps all down [her] nose, including what one physician described as a sharp bump. She has two scars on her nose that she tries to hide with makeup. In addition, she suffered from sinus problems and had breathing difficulties for 3 months, and she continues to suffer from nosebleeds.