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A jury of five women and seven men took less than two hours Tuesday morning to find Jonathan Rodriguez guilty of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl.
Rodriguez, 30, was convicted on all counts in the June 2008 attack, including kidnapping with the intent to commit a sexual offense, sexual penetration with a foreign object, committing a lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old who was more than 10 years younger, first-degree burglary and resisting arrest. He also was found guilty of using a weapon and committing the sexual penetration during the commission of a burglary and kidnapping.
The parents of the victim, identified only as Jane Doe, sat side by side in the Nevada County Superior Court courtroom as Jane's mother clutched a facial tissue in her hands. Jane was not present during the reading of the verdict.
“Although our daughter's life has been irrevocably changed and two families' homes have been disrupted, it's an immense relief to come to the end of this 17-month ordeal with a verdict that we believe to be just and appropriate,” Jane's mother said Tuesday evening.
She thanked everyone at the District Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Office and Victim Witness program, adding that her family has been “tremendously supported ... the system has worked on our behalf.”
She also went out of her way to reach out to Rodriguez's family.
“As parents, we can only sympathize with the pain that Mr. Rodriguez's parents must be feeling,” she said.
Rodriguez will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 in Dept. 4 of Nevada County Superior Court. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison.
After the jury was dismissed, they filed out quietly, some taking the time to shake hands with Jane's parents. None of the jurors wanted to comment about the case.
Rodriguez's court-appointed attorney, Gary Gordon, also declined to comment.
“The jury in this case made the correct decisions after carefully considering the evidence and the judge's instructions on the law,” said Nevada County Deputy District Attorney Dave Walters. “I'm very proud of the young lady who was the victim in this case. She very bravely protected the children she was babysitting from the defendant when these crimes were committed. Furthermore, her testimony in the case has helped protect our community from further acts by the defendant. Her bravery in the face of such heinous crimes is truly astounding.”
Walters noted the guilty verdict was due to a joint effort by many people from the District Attorney's office, the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, the California Department of Justice and Nevada County Victim/Witness.
The speed of the verdict appeared to take some by surprise, especially since the jury had to decide not only on five separate counts, but also on nine findings.
But Walters said years of experience have taught him not to try to predict a jury's behavior.
“I've seen juries make decisions extremely quickly (in complicated cases) and I've seen them take a very long time on things that seem kind of dry,” he said. “All kinds of guessing goes on if the jury takes a long time or if they don't take very long, what that might mean.”
In closing arguments last week, Walters punctuated his methodical case with a school photograph of Jane Doe, who was celebrating her 14th birthday the day of the assault.
“It's important to remember how young she was at the time,” Walters told the jury.
The girl, who was babysitting five children inside the Union Hill home, testified that Rodriguez moved her from room to room, apparently in an attempt to avoid the scrutiny of the other children in the house. Rodriguez held a knife to her throat at one point and cut her bra off before removing her clothes and assaulting her.
Gordon, for his part, tried to raise as many doubts as possible in the minds of jurors, including the minimal physical evidence tying Rodriguez to the scene. Rodriguez claimed he had lied during his interrogation — in which he appeared to insinuate the sexual contact was consensual — and that a friend, Travis Kneebone, was at the house with him and was the probable culprit.
In the end, none of the jurors appeared to buy any of the defense arguments. Gordon requested each juror be polled, but waived the request after all of the jurors affirmed the verdict in the first count of kidnapping.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
Rodriguez, 30, was convicted on all counts in the June 2008 attack, including kidnapping with the intent to commit a sexual offense, sexual penetration with a foreign object, committing a lewd act on a child 14 or 15 years old who was more than 10 years younger, first-degree burglary and resisting arrest. He also was found guilty of using a weapon and committing the sexual penetration during the commission of a burglary and kidnapping.
The parents of the victim, identified only as Jane Doe, sat side by side in the Nevada County Superior Court courtroom as Jane's mother clutched a facial tissue in her hands. Jane was not present during the reading of the verdict.
“Although our daughter's life has been irrevocably changed and two families' homes have been disrupted, it's an immense relief to come to the end of this 17-month ordeal with a verdict that we believe to be just and appropriate,” Jane's mother said Tuesday evening.
She thanked everyone at the District Attorney's Office, Sheriff's Office and Victim Witness program, adding that her family has been “tremendously supported ... the system has worked on our behalf.”
She also went out of her way to reach out to Rodriguez's family.
“As parents, we can only sympathize with the pain that Mr. Rodriguez's parents must be feeling,” she said.
Rodriguez will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. on Dec. 14 in Dept. 4 of Nevada County Superior Court. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison.
After the jury was dismissed, they filed out quietly, some taking the time to shake hands with Jane's parents. None of the jurors wanted to comment about the case.
Rodriguez's court-appointed attorney, Gary Gordon, also declined to comment.
“The jury in this case made the correct decisions after carefully considering the evidence and the judge's instructions on the law,” said Nevada County Deputy District Attorney Dave Walters. “I'm very proud of the young lady who was the victim in this case. She very bravely protected the children she was babysitting from the defendant when these crimes were committed. Furthermore, her testimony in the case has helped protect our community from further acts by the defendant. Her bravery in the face of such heinous crimes is truly astounding.”
Walters noted the guilty verdict was due to a joint effort by many people from the District Attorney's office, the Nevada County Sheriff's Office, the California Department of Justice and Nevada County Victim/Witness.
The speed of the verdict appeared to take some by surprise, especially since the jury had to decide not only on five separate counts, but also on nine findings.
But Walters said years of experience have taught him not to try to predict a jury's behavior.
“I've seen juries make decisions extremely quickly (in complicated cases) and I've seen them take a very long time on things that seem kind of dry,” he said. “All kinds of guessing goes on if the jury takes a long time or if they don't take very long, what that might mean.”
In closing arguments last week, Walters punctuated his methodical case with a school photograph of Jane Doe, who was celebrating her 14th birthday the day of the assault.
“It's important to remember how young she was at the time,” Walters told the jury.
The girl, who was babysitting five children inside the Union Hill home, testified that Rodriguez moved her from room to room, apparently in an attempt to avoid the scrutiny of the other children in the house. Rodriguez held a knife to her throat at one point and cut her bra off before removing her clothes and assaulting her.
Gordon, for his part, tried to raise as many doubts as possible in the minds of jurors, including the minimal physical evidence tying Rodriguez to the scene. Rodriguez claimed he had lied during his interrogation — in which he appeared to insinuate the sexual contact was consensual — and that a friend, Travis Kneebone, was at the house with him and was the probable culprit.
In the end, none of the jurors appeared to buy any of the defense arguments. Gordon requested each juror be polled, but waived the request after all of the jurors affirmed the verdict in the first count of kidnapping.
To contact Staff Writer Liz Kellar, e-mail lkellar@theunion.com or call 477-4229.
