Vanguard Sacramento Bureau Chief
DAVIS, CA – The defense attorney for a man accused of assaulting and kidnapping a woman Aug. 12 at the University of California, Davis, campus has told the Vanguard he has major questions about the identification of the alleged perpetrator.
According to a police statement, a woman reported being grabbed from behind in the UC Davis Arboretum but broke away and called police.
Mathew J. Martinez, a former Merced deputy district attorney and now a private defense attorney, said his client was actually not identified by the alleged victim early in the identification process, and questions how police handled the ID.
“There was not a positive identification,” said Martinez, charging the accused is about 4-5 inches different in height than what the victim told authorities. The victim said, “that’s not him, and (in effect) exonerated him,” maintains Martinez.
Martinez also criticized the actions of police who broke the accused’s door down when the accused was out of town, but he’s largely concerned about the “improper” identification of the accused.
His client has now been arraigned on kidnapping, assault and false imprisonment. The man surrendered at the UC Davis Police Department Aug. 20, and was booked into Yolo County Jail. He’s free on $60,000 bail now, with the next scheduled court date Oct. 2.
Will the police be naming the woman who was accosted?