Jury in rape case still deliberating

Jurors in a Bennett Valley kidnapping and rape case begin their fourth day of deliberations today after not reaching verdicts during nearly 14 hours of discussions since receiving the case late Monday.

The 10-woman, two-man panel is considering the fate of 31-year-old Aristotle Quadra of Santa Rosa, who was tried on nine felony charges -- including first-degree attempted murder -- that could send him to prison for the rest of his life if convicted.

During the weeklong trial, Quadra didn't deny that he kidnapped, raped and stabbed a 29-year-old woman he attacked as she was loading her 20-month-old son into her SUV at the Yulupa Safeway on Feb. 7.

But his attorney asked jurors to be lenient on him because Quadra may have been too high on methamphetamine to have formed the premeditation necessary for the first-degree attempted murder charge.

His attorney, Barry Collins, also asked jurors to reject a charge of kidnapping for the purposes of rape in favor of a simple rape charge. He also argued that the woman's injuries didn't rise to the legal level of "great bodily injury," an enhancement in three counts.

Those allegations could add decades to any prison sentence. The premeditated attempted murder and kidnapping for rape charges call for potential life sentences.

The woman was stabbed 14 times with an ice pick, including three times in the throat and once through her liver and into the kidney behind it. The trauma surgeon who treated her testified that although they initially treated the injuries as life-threatening, the woman ultimately needed only observation and antibiotics, not surgery or even stitches.

Jurors appeared to be considering the injury allegations on Tuesday when they asked to hear a court reporter read back all of the doctor's testimony.

"It's a miracle," she suffered no greater injuries, Dr. David Hardin said.

Late Wednesday, jurors indicated they were split on an enhancement, but they didn't specify which one.

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

She said he specifically picked the victim because she had a child he knew he could use as leverage to get her to comply with his demands.

Sanders argued that Quadra's premeditation was clear when he sat quietly for at least 30 seconds after the rape, then said, "Oh, f--- it" and began stabbing her in the neck, chest and abdomen.

The woman testified that Quadra shoved her from behind into her SUV as she was buckling her son in. She said he was holding an ice pick and threatened the boy's life unless she did what he ordered.

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 a piece found taped to the end of a rope found in Quadra's apartment.

Collins did not give an opening statement, asked only a handful of questions on cross-examination and called no witnesses in Quadra's defense. During his closing statement, he essentially admitted Quadra's guilt, but asked them to reject some of the special allegations and the first-degree element of the attempted murder charge.