SANTA ANA (CNS) – A defense attorney Wednesday argued his client was innocent of allegations he repeatedly sexually assaulted a girl he is related to for years in Buena Park, questioning the credibility of his accuser and her siblings.
The case went to the jury Wednesday after closing arguments concluded.
Rodolfo Olanlanderos, 45, is charged with sexual intercourse with a child 10 years or younger, continuous sexual abuse of a child and lewd act on a child 14 or 15, all felonies.
Much of the case against the defendant relies on the testimony of the victim, who is now 19, Deputy District Attorney Scott Wooldridge said. But he also pointed to alleged forensic evidence as well, such as what he said was the defendant’s semen found on a purple quilt belonging to the accuser.
Defense attorney Oscar Acevedo said the girl’s mother testified that she had sex with the defendant on the girl’s bed just before investigators collected the quilt for evidence.
Acevedo argued that given the accuser’s allegations that she was sexually assaulted repeatedly starting when she was 7 and until she was 14, there would likely be more than two stains.
“If these numbers were anywhere near accurate, it would have lit up like a fireworks show” when crime scene investigators used a fluorescent lamp to see the stains, Acevedo said. “It would have looked like a Jackson Pollock painting.”
Acevedo questioned the credibility of the accuser’s younger brother, who had trouble recalling when he was 13 whether the defendant had a job.
The defense attorney also raised the issue of statements of witnesses who said the abuse would happen between 8 to 10 p.m. or 1 to 3 a.m.
“It can’t be both,” Acevedo said. “Our position is it can’t be both because it never happened and these kids can’t get their stories straight.”
Acevedo suggested there could be “false memories” inspired by discussion among the adults in the home when the accuser came forward.
Acevedo said the accuser “brought up new allegations when she took the stand.”
The defense attorney criticized investigators for not collecting more evidence, some of which might have helped refute the allegations. He said the investigators did not examine other bedding in the residence or the defendant’s underwear, given the alleged victim’s statements that he would ejaculate into his underwear during the assaults.
“What the people are trying to do is put a square peg into a round hole, a case that defies logic and science, and squeeze it into a guilty hole,” Acevedo argued.
Wooldridge argued that the accuser’s mother lied in her testimony.
The accuser’s mother “lied to you, she lied about the state of their marriage,” the prosecutor said, adding that the two slept in separate bedrooms for years.
When the allegations surfaced and she was questioned, she said nothing about having sex with the defendant on the girl’s bed, Wooldridge said.
“This is a very tough spot she’s in,” he said. “She’s conflicted as a mother and wife of 20 years.”
The accuser’s mother did not divorce the defendant, the prosecutor said.
“She’s right that she didn’t see it,” he said. “It wasn’t happening in front of her face. … She doesn’t want to admit this was going on when she was at work.”
Wooldridge added, “Is there some evidence she’s a rebellious kid who made this all up? There’s zero evidence of that.”
What the accuser “was clear on is this would happen when the mother wasn’t home,” Wooldridge said.
When the accuser was asked about the quilt during her testimony, she burst into tears, Wooldridge said.
“Was this all an act?” the prosecutor said in his closing argument. “If so, she deserves an Academy Award. … This is a 19-year-old put through a real traumatic childhood.”
The allegations “are not something she’s faking because (the defendant) wont’ let her look at her phone,” Wooldridge said.
The alleged victim’s brother testified that he never saw the defendant molest his sister, but he said would often see the two were in a bedroom with the door locked, the prosecutor said.
“This was something that was common,” Wooldridge said. “And it was always when mom wasn’t home.”
A younger sister testified she also walked in on the two once in the bedroom, the prosecutor said.
The defendant threatened to kill the accuser’s mother if she told anyone, Wooldridge said. He would also tell her “you know you like it,” and “no one will love you,” and would call her a “whore,” the prosecutor said.
Recent Comments