In closing arguments in Sonoma County court Tuesday, prosecutors began their last attempt to convince the jury that two North Bay men worked together to violently kidnap and rape a San Francisco woman waiting for a rideshare in 2018.
Defense attorneys, though, countered that the woman’s drunken state, inconsistent statements and lapses in memory were enough to call her reliability into question — and cast doubt on the accusations made against their clients.
Fredi Lopez-Flores, 37, of Novato, and Christian Quintero, 27, of Sonoma, sat side-by-side as they listened on Tuesday to Deputy District Attorney Matthew Hubley’s closing arguments. The pair have been using headphones to listen as interpreters convey court testimony to them in Spanish.
They are each charged with six crimes in connection with the early morning assault on April 14, 2018, including kidnapping, robbery and multiple counts related to rape. They could each be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors have built their case around DNA evidence, the police investigation and the emotional testimony of Jane Doe, as the accuser has been referred to in court. All of that together, prosecutors believe, proves that the men abducted, beat and raped the woman, who had been waiting for transportation to get back to her Richmond District home.
On Tuesday, they showed the jury a final piece of evidence — an assemblage of surveillance footage reconstructing the path of Lopez-Flores’ Dodge Magnum as it traveled from San Francisco to Sonoma.
“Even though you have an important decision ahead of you, this case will never truly be your case. This case belongs to Jane Doe,” Hubley told jurors. “It’s hard to watch Jane Doe’s testimony and not feel she at least blames herself in part in some way. You as members of the jury have an incredible opportunity to help Jane Doe understand, ‘This is not your fault.’ ”
Nicholas Sandler, Quintero’s attorney, focused on the inconsistencies in Jane Doe’s memory of the incident.
He reminded the jury that she first told police the Uber driver had raped her and then, three times, she failed to identify the two defendants in photo lineups.
Gabriel Quinnan, Lopez-Flores’ lawyer also focused on contradictions in the woman’s statements to police and in her court testimony about having “blacked out” that night.
He reiterated his client’s tearful testimony that he did not intervene in Quintero’s violence because the man had threatened him with a gun
Quinnan also rehashed the results of DNA analysis on sperm samples left on the woman’s body and found on the interior of her clothes, which showed that they were a much greater match to Quintero than Lopez-Flores.
“We do not contest the broad-brush strokes,” Quinnan said. “It was clear she was raped. It was clear she was beaten. It was clear she was left on the streets of Sonoma.”
But, the specifics of the incident are not clear, and that is enough to acquit Lopez-Flores, Quinnan argued.
“Fredi is no hero in this story,” he said. “But it is absolutely the law that we are not required by law to be a hero.”
Also on Tuesday, Judge Christopher Honigsberg instructed jury members on how they are to reach their verdict.
In order to find the men guilty on any of the counts, the jury must believe beyond a reasonable doubt that the men intentionally committed these crimes.
Prosecutors will address the jury Wednesday morning before it convenes for deliberation.
You can reach Staff Writer Emily Wilder at 707-521-5337 or emily.wilder@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @vv1lder.
