MERCED - The prosecution and defense both made passionate closing arguments Friday in the case of the alleged rape of a 13-year-old girl.
Raymond Dean Thompson, 31, faces seven felony charges, including rape by force, sodomy by force, oral copulation by force, assault by means of force, burglary, criminal threats and committing a lewd act upon a child.
The jury is still deliberating the case and will reconvene at 8 a.m. Monday.
The crime allegedly took place during the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2009, in the girl’s apartment in Merced.
After Superior County Judge John D. Kirihara gave instructions to the jury, Deputy District Attorney Rob Carroll gave his closing argument.
He focused on five points he asked the jury to pay close attention to: The victim identified the defendant; the time the alleged rape occurred; the victim identified the defendant’s cell phone ring tone; where the defendant was found; and what the defendant said.
“Every piece of evidence points to one person, and that person is him,” Carroll said while pointing to Thompson. “I would challenge the defense council to rebut any of this evidence — because you can’t.”
Thompson’s attorney, Jeffrey Tenenbaum, focused his closing argument on the fact that there was no DNA evidence found that connected his client to the alleged victim. He also refuted evidence presented earlier in the trial.
“What evidence is there that puts Thompson in that room?” Tenenbaum asked during his closing argument. “Is it fair to hold it against him that none of this evidence was collected?”
The fact that the girl was able to pick Thompson’s ring tone out of a lineup could simply be because he was in the general area at the time, but not in the girl’s room, Tenenbaum said.
Despite a thorough search of the girl, there was nothing on her that tied Thompson to the crime, Tenenbaum said.
Although something may have happened to her that night, his client is not at fault, he said.