A judge Tuesday denied a defense motion to dismiss an attempted kidnapping for rape charge against a man accused of assaulting the woman, then repeatedly raping another woman during a 2 1/2-hour ordeal near Balboa Park.
Ismael Hernandez Jr., 27, of Chula Vista, faces life in prison if convicted of 10 charges, including forcible rape.
Deputy Public Defender Genevieve Jones-Wright unsuccessfully argued that there wasn’t enough evidence produced at a preliminary hearing to show that Hernandez took any action to kidnap “Jane Doe” the night of May 5, 2016.
“Jane Doe” testified in October that Hernandez came up from behind her as she emerged from a restaurant near Balboa Park with some take-out food about 9:30 p.m.
“I was shocked,” the woman said. “He was really close to my face. He said, `Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything. Don’t say anything.”‘
She said she noticed the defendant had a knife in his hand, so she threw her food at his face and ran back into the restaurant, and he took off in another direction.
She said she and her boyfriend drove around and looked for her attacker, but were unable to find him. She said she called police the next day when she watched a news report about a rapist near Balboa Park.
Judge Steven Stone ruled there was sufficient evidence presented at the preliminary hearing last year to order Hernandez to stand trial on the attempted kidnapping for rape charge involving “Jane Doe.”
The other alleged victim, Rebecca, testified that she walking back to her car in the same vicinity near the south end of the park about 9:45 p.m. when Hernandez came around a corner, got in her face and said, “Don’t scream.”
The woman testified that Hernandez had a knife and told her to be quiet or he would hurt her. She said Hernandez walked her to a nearby area and sexually assaulted her, then moved her to a second location, where he forced sex acts with her again.
After the 2 1/2-hour assault, she said she started to put her clothes back on and Hernandez took off. She said she flagged down a pizza delivery driver and called police.
Hernandez’s case is set for trial March 10.
–City News Service
