People v. Castillo

ALLYN, J.,

pro tem.

The defendant was convicted of the crime of rape by force and violence. The principal points relied upon for reversal are three: First, that the testimony of the prosecutrix is so inherently improbable as to render it entirely unworthy of belief and hence that the evidence is insufficient to sustain the judgment; second, that it was error to admit expert testimony to the effect that it was not inherently improbable from a medical or physiological standpoint for the defendant to have accomplished the number of sexual acts testified to by the prosecutrix within the time stated by her; and third, that the court was in error in its ruling upon defense testimony of the good reputation of defendant for chastity and morality.

The testimony of the prosecuting witness is of such a nature as to strain the credulity of an average man. She was a married woman, apparently of normal health and strength, although weakened somewhat by recent illness. She admitted having lived in adultery with two men prior to her marriage and having borne a child to each of them. By her testimony, in the early evening, while walking on the streets of the small town of Stanton, in Orange County, she was seized by an unknown man who forced her to go with him to a vacant lot in the rear of an unoccupied house. He bent her backward until she fell to the ground and there, despite her struggles and cries for help, accomplished an act

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of sexual intercourse. She escaped from him but ran into a fence, was recaptured, and forced back to the same spot where the defendant in the same manner repeated his conquest. About five minutes elapsed between these two assaults. Then, not yet satisfied, the defendant, partly dragging the prosecutrix, forced her to walk about two blocks to another part of the village, where he again forced an act of intercourse upon her. These three assaults took place within the space of about twenty minutes. The prosecutrix then escaped upon the pretext that she would accept the defendant's invitation to go with him to Tia Juana, ran to her house, and made complaint to her husband. The latter, who was ill from a celebration earlier in the day, left the house and spent about five minutes in search of this man who had defiled his wife. There were marks and bruises upon witness’ person when examined by a physician the next day. Three days later the prosecutrix pointed out the defendant to the arresting officers and identified him as her assailant.