XPost: talk.politics.guns, ba.politics, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: alt.abortion, sac.politics   
   From: X@Y.com   
      
   >The trail went cold for nearly a decade until police got the man’s   
   >fingerprints due to a minor traffic violation in 2016.   
   >   
   >A man who broke into the homes of three Berkeley women and sexually   
   >assaulted them in 2008 was convicted Monday as part of a plea deal and   
   >sentenced to 24 years in state prison.   
   >   
   >Johnny Dunbar, who was 16 at the time of the assaults, raped two of the   
   >women. He used a knife to coerce his first victim and a gun to confront   
   >his second one, according to police. Dunbar also used a knife to try to   
   >force a third woman to orally copulate him but was “scared off”   
   >before he could succeed, police said after his arrest.   
   >   
   >Police found fingerprints and collected DNA from the sex crimes, which   
   >took place in the same North Berkeley neighborhood over just one month in   
   >the summer of 2008. But the evidence didn’t match anyone in the system.   
   >The trail went cold and Dunbar evaded detection for nearly a decade.   
   >   
   >That changed in March 2016 when Berkeley police pulled him over on a   
   >minor traffic violation. Police collected his fingerprints as part of   
   >that case and ultimately found their man: Subsequent forensic analysis   
   >matched Dunbar’s prints to those found on a windowsill after the first   
   >rape, on June 21, 2008.   
   >   
   >Detectives then collected Dunbar’s DNA. It matched all three sexual   
   >assaults.   
   >   
   >https://i0.wp.com/newspack-berkeleyside-cityside.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-conte   
   >nt/uploads/2022/04/johnny-dunbar.jpg?resize=476%2C720&ssl=1 Johnny   
   >Dunbar. Credit: ACSO   
   >   
   >BPD arrested Dunbar on July 6, 2016, at his Delaware Street home not far   
   >from the North Berkeley BART station. During the arrest, police also   
   >found thousands of dollars in cash and evidence of drug dealing,   
   >according to court papers.   
   >   
   >Two days later, the Alameda County district attorney’s office charged   
   >Dunbar with two counts of forcible rape, one count of forcible oral   
   >copulation and one count of attempted oral copulation. Dunbar, who was   
   >then 24 years old, was charged as an adult.   
   >   
   >Since that time, the case has moved through the court system at a glacial   
   >pace. Initially, Dunbar’s defense attorney, Ernesto Castillo, attempted   
   >to get his client’s case moved to juvenile court. He was unsuccessful.   
   >   
   >On Monday, at long last, the case was scheduled for a 9 a.m. preliminary   
   >hearing, which is a sort of mini-trial where the prosecution puts forward   
   >the evidence it believes will allow a judge to order a defendant to stand   
   >trial.   
   >   
   >This type of hearing, called a “px” for short, generally happens   
   >within a year or so of arrest. But it can take longer if a case is   
   >complex or the charges are particularly serious.   
   >   
   >The px is often the first time evidence in a criminal case becomes   
   >public. Key witnesses testify and experts take the stand.   
   >   
   >The burden of proof for a preliminary hearing is much lower than at   
   >trial, however. The prosecution doesn’t put on its whole case and the   
   >defense often presents no evidence. The judge must determine only that a   
   >reasonable person could believe that the defendant may have committed the   
   >crime.   
   >   
   >On Monday, Dunbar’s scheduled preliminary hearing didn’t happen at   
   >the appointed time, however.   
   >   
   >Instead, after taking some time in the courtroom to finalize a deal they   
   >had been working on, Castillo and prosecutor Melissa Demetral told Judge   
   >Andrew Steckler that Dunbar would change his not-guilty plea in the case   
   >in exchange for an agreed-upon sentence. They announced the deal just   
   >after 10:30 a.m.   
   >   
   >As part of the agreement, Dunbar entered no-contest pleas and was   
   >convicted of the June 21, 2008, forcible rape of the first woman he   
   >assaulted, along with the July 8, 2008, forcible rape, as well as the   
   >forcible oral copulation, of the second woman.   
   >   
   >For each of those three counts, he will be sentenced to eight years in   
   >prison, to be served consecutively, for a total of 24 years.   
   >   
   >Dunbar also entered a no-contest plea and was convicted of attempted   
   >forcible oral copulation in connection with the third woman’s assault,   
   >on July 21, 2008. That carries a four-year sentence to be served   
   >concurrently, meaning it will not add additional prison time.   
   >   
   >During the hearing, in response to explanations and questions from Judge   
   >Steckler, Dunbar said he understood the terms of the agreement and waived   
   >his right to a jury trial.   
   >   
   >Steckler confirmed that Dunbar, who is now 30 years old, understood that   
   >the convictions would count as four strikes against him and that, when he   
   >is released, he will have to register as a sex offender.   
   >   
   >Dunbar, who wore the red, short-sleeved shirt of his jail scrubs along   
   >with matching red-and-white-striped pants, spoke quietly and answered   
   >only “yes” or “no” to the judge’s questions.   
   >   
   >Berkeleyside was the only attendee at the hearing.   
   >   
   >Dunbar is scheduled to return to Steckler’s courtroom, at the René C.   
   >Davidson Courthouse in Oakland, for his formal sentencing July 14.   
   >   
   >Berkeley Police Sgt. Sean Ross, who ran the sex crimes unit at the time   
   >of the stranger rape series in 2008, said the attacks “gripped the   
   >entire community with fear.”   
   >   
   >“Dunbar’s crime spree of sexual assaults and burglaries in the summer   
   >of 2008 forever altered the lives of three women,” Ross said. “This   
   >plea deal brings the closure the survivors and the community needed.”   
   >   
   >Featured photo credit: Pete Rosos   
   >   
   >https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/04/19/johnny-dunbar-2008-berkeley-strang   
   >er-rape-series-24-year-sentence   
   >   
      
   Shouldn't have kidnapped them and brought them over to do all our lazy   
   white ancestors farm work I guess.   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)