Fifth District Judge W. Lee Fowler spent almost two hours Thursday morning reading his instructions to the jury that will consider more than 50 charges against Raul Manuel Magallanez Jr. Jurors heard closing arguments this morning.
The trial in three cases against Magallanez has been underway for almost three weeks in Lyon County District Court.
Magallanez has been accused of more than 50 charges, including rape of a 13-year-old girl and multiple charges of aggravated sodomy with a minor, aggravated indecent liberties with a minor, sexual exploitation of a minor, and furnishing alcohol or drugs to a minor for illicit purposes. He also is charged with aggravated incrimination of a witness.
Magallanez has pleaded not guilty on all charges.
Fowler began his instructions by telling jurors that they must disregard any testimony or exhibit that had not been admitted into evidence. They should not draw any inferences of guilt because the defendant chose not to testify in any of the cases, and they have the right to use “common knowledge and experience” in their deliberations.
“Neither sympathy nor prejudice should influence you,” he said. “The defendant is not required to prove that he is not guilty. The test you must use ... is this: If you have a reasonable doubt as to the truth of any of the claims made by the state, you must find the defendant not guilty.”
Fowler said that the burden of proof never shifts to the defendant.
The judge gave specific individual instructions for every charge against Magallanez. The first of the three merged cases contained two charges; the second case contained 41 charges and the third case contained 15 charges. Six of the charges were dismissed earlier this week because the evidence presented could not be connected to the descriptions in the counts filed with the court.
Fowler gave jurors options of considering lesser charges in most of the cases if they did not believe that original charges had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.
To convict Magallanez on counts of rape of the girls between 14 and 16 years of age, Fowler told the jury that it must believe that:
• the defendant had sexual intercourse with the girl;
• the act occurred under circumstances under which she was incapable of giving valid consent or under the affect of alcohol or drugs, which condition was known by or was reasonably apparent to the defendant; and
• the act was committed during the time periods specified in the individual charges and circumstances.
Charges of furnishing alcohol for illicit purposes to minors could be reduced to furnishing alcohol to minors, if the jury did not believe that the defendant bought, gave, or provided alcohol to people under 18 to encourage or induce them to participate in illicit activities and that the acts happened during the time periods specified.