Bennett Valley kidnap, rape in jury's hands

The jury in a Bennett Valley kidnapping and rape case began deliberating late Monday afternoon following closing arguments in which the defense attorney essentially admitted his client was guilty.

But in his closing statements, Aristotle Quadra's attorney, Barry Collins, asked jurors to consider mitigating factors that might lessen Quadra's level of guilt.

Quadra would face a potential life prison term if he is convicted of the most serious charges, including attempted first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping with the intent to rape.

The closing arguments were nearly the only defense effort in the weeklong case. Collins, no stranger to high-profile cases, did not give an opening statement and asked only a handful of questions on cross-examination. He called no witnesses in Quadra's defense.

Collins told the 10-woman, two-man panel Quadra wasn't denying that he kidnapped, raped and tried to murder a woman he attacked as she was loading her 20-month-old son into her SUV at the Yulupa Safeway on Feb. 7.

But he asked them to consider that Quadra may have been too high on methamphetamine to have formed the necessary premeditation for first-degree attempted murder.

He also argued that Quadra didn't plan the kidnapping in order to rape the woman but decided to do that after he told her to park in a gym parking lot. Kidnapping for the purpose of rape calls for a potential life term.

Collins suggested, through a brief cross-examination of a man who said he saw Quadra at Safeway that day, that Quadra was high on methamphetamine when the crimes occurred.

Prosecutor Tashawn Sanders asked the jury to find Quadra guilty as charged, arguing that he brought with him to the Safeway a set of handcuffs, gloves and an ice pick.

"He knew full well what he was going to do when he got in that car, and he brought those items with him," she said.

The decision to stab and try to kill the woman was planned and deliberate, she said. The woman testified that after Quadra raped her, he sat next to her silently for at least 30 seconds before he turned, said, "Oh, f--- it" and stabbed her as many as 14 times, including in the neck, chest and abdomen.

"This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision," Sanders said. "The defendant picked Jane Doe knowing she had that child in the car. He knew she was vulnerable. He knew he could make her do whatever he wanted because of that child."

Prosecution testimony included a match between Quadra's DNA and semen recovered after the rape and microscopic comparisons of pieces of metal found in the handcuffs and at the end of a rope found in Quadra's apartment.

"An exact match," Sanders said.

The woman, identified in court only as Jane Doe, testified that Quadra shoved her from behind into her SUV as she was loading her son into his car seat in the grocery store parking lot. She said he was holding an ice pick and threatened the boy's life unless she complied with his demands.

She testified that Quadra forced her to drive to a secluded parking lot a few miles away, where he handcuffed her and raped her while her son sat in his car seat in the back seat.

The woman was able to break one hand free from the handcuffs and stomp on the car horn, causing her attacker to flee.

Quadra was arrested three days later after a former co-worker identified him from a composite sketch based on the woman's description.

Collins also asked jurors to reject special allegations that say the victim suffered great bodily injury. A doctor testified that the woman's wounds required no treatment greater than preventive antibiotics.

The jury will continue deliberating this morning.

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