Selection begins for jury in SR rape

Several hundred residents are being summoned to the courthouse this week as potential jurors in one of the most heinous rape cases in Sonoma County in years.

Judge Ken Gnoss has set aside several days for jury selection in the trial of Aristotle Quadra, 31, who is charged with first-degree attempted murder, rape, kidnapping and six other felonies that could result in a life prison term if he is convicted.

Quadra is accused of raping and stabbing a 29-year-old woman in February while her 2-year-old son was in the back seat of her car.

During a preliminary hearing in April, she identified Quadra as the man who attacked her in the parking lot of a Bennett Valley Safeway store as she was loading her son into his car seat.

She said he forced her to drive to a secluded location, where he got into the back seat with her, handcuffed her and began a violent ordeal that left her with as many as 10 stab wounds from an ice pick. Her attacker fled when she reached the car horn with her foot and stepped on it to attract attention.

She spent four days in the hospital. The boy wasn't physically harmed.

Quadra has pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

The case sparked outrage among many Sonoma County residents, resonating as a nightmare that could happen to anyone going about routine errands in a public place. The woman's bravery in trying to protect her son during her attack spurred donations to a trust fund for the "Bennett Valley Mom" at Exchange Bank for people who wanted to show support.

The trial is expected to last at least a month, with possible testimony from 17 police officers, ambulance personnel, doctors, nurses and forensic experts. The woman and five other non-law enforcement witnesses are also on the witness list.

In court Tuesday morning, Quadra smiled and greeted the first 100 potential jurors with a bright "good morning" before they were briefed on the case.

Gnoss quickly excused four dozen potential jurors who claimed either financial, emotional or other hardships that would prevent them from serving as jurors in the case. Others were questioned further on their hardship assertions.

Those who passed the first hurdle were asked to fill out a detailed, 24-page questionnaire probing their backgrounds, opinions and ability to serve as jurors. They will return on Oct. 27 to be questioned in greater detail.

Anticipating that some of the potential jurors may have heard about the high-profile case, the questionnaire asks:

"Has this case affected or changed your life in any way?"

"Are you aware of any recent local or national high-publicity criminal cases?"

"How do you feel about being a juror on a case with these charges?"

It also asks jurors if there are any racial or ethnic groups they are uncomfortable around and whether they or anyone close to them has ever had a negative or positive experience with someone of African-American or Asian descent. Quadra is described in court documents as Asian.

Additional potential jurors are set to appear in court over the next two weeks.

Gnoss said he hopes to have the trial concluded before Thanksgiving week, but it could stretch into the first week of December.

You can reach Staff Writer L.A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.