Defense quizzes girl about calls to alleged rapist
Girl sometimes called defendant 10 to 15 times an hour
By Bobbi Mlynar
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
A 13-year-old alleged rape victim testified this morning that she had typed an e-mail message to her alleged rapist as he dictated the text to her.
The girl, who will be identified as Girl No. 3, continued her testimony in Lyon County District Court in the trial of Raul Manuel Magallanez Jr.
Magallanez is on trial for rape of a girl under 14 years old, as well as approximately 60 counts alleging sexual and alcohol offenses against minors and one count of aggravated intimidation of a witness. Three separately filed cases against him have been merged into one trial.
Girl No. 3 said that the defendant had asked her to send the e-mail.
“I was talking on the phone with him and he was telling me what to say,” the girl said. She sent it “because he told me to.”
The e-mail apparently was intended to defuse rumors that were circulating after the girl told a girlfriend that she had had sexual intercourse with the defendant.
The e-mail said, “Hey, I’m sorry I made up shit saying we had sex and I’m pregnant and it’s not true.”
During cross-examination by defense attorney Julia Spainhour, the girl said that she did tell people that she and the defendant had engaged in sex, but that she had not told anyone that she was pregnant.
The girl said Magallanez told her “maybe at least once a day” that he could get into trouble if she told about their sexual involvement.
Early testimony this morning centered around numerous photographs that had been disseminated from Girl No. 3’s cell phone.
The girl had sent messages with photographs from her cell phone to Magallanez’s cell phone.
In a letter to the defendant, which was read this morning, the girl mentioned his asking if she ever thought about him.
“I think of you every second of every minute of every hour of every day. ... but yeah, I can’t stop thinking about you. Do you know you have the prettiest eyes?” she wrote. “... Can’t wait to be in your arms.”
She testified that she had asked Magallanez to read a book in which she had written poetry, including some she had written about him. The book has not been returned, she said.
Spainhour spent considerable time cross-examining the girl over cell phone calls, as they looked at a bill from the cell phone company.
Spainhour noted that sometimes the girl called Magallanez 10 to 15 times an hour.
“Do you remember him answering any of the phone calls?” Spainhour asked, referring to a specific time period on Oct. 31.
“No,” the girl said.
The girl testified that initially she called Magallanez’s cell phone number to talk to a girlfriend’s brother, whom she liked. The girl also said that she sent text to Magallanez with her cell phone. Later, the phone calls also were to Magallanez.
She said she did not remember what the majority of the phone calls regarded. She also sent him photographs from her cell phone to his.
Spainhour asked the girl about a photograph where she appeared to be upset and perhaps had been crying; the girl’s mascara appeared to have run. She questioned why the girl would have sent that photo to the defendant and whether she wanted him to know she was upset.
“And you never told Manuel that you had slashed your wrists and sent him any photos about that?” Spainhour asked.
“No,” the girl said.
“Why did you send these pictures to Manuel?” the defense attorney asked.
“I don’t know,” the girl responded.