Miss-Delectable
New Member
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2004
- Messages
- 17,160
- Reaction score
- 7
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11343211
A state appeals court has rejected an appeal from a cab driver convicted of the rape of a deaf and mentally disabled woman. Oscar Dela Cruz said he had an ineffective lawyer in his 2006 trial.
A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the claim Tuesday, calling the evidence against the 40-year-old Dela Cruz "overwhelming."
Dela Cruz raped the then-28-year-old woman in the back seat of his taxi in a Lawndale parking lot in 2005, according to trial testimony. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
The victim was born deaf and mute and had cerebral palsy.
Dela Cruz claimed his attorney failed to investigate a plausible defense, failed to properly challenge the claims of expert witnesses and failed to get him a Spanish-language interpreter.
A state appeals court has rejected an appeal from a cab driver convicted of the rape of a deaf and mentally disabled woman. Oscar Dela Cruz said he had an ineffective lawyer in his 2006 trial.
A panel of the 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the claim Tuesday, calling the evidence against the 40-year-old Dela Cruz "overwhelming."
Dela Cruz raped the then-28-year-old woman in the back seat of his taxi in a Lawndale parking lot in 2005, according to trial testimony. He was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
The victim was born deaf and mute and had cerebral palsy.
Dela Cruz claimed his attorney failed to investigate a plausible defense, failed to properly challenge the claims of expert witnesses and failed to get him a Spanish-language interpreter.
