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2nd suspect in Tinian rape case found guilty
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Posted on Sep 20 2011
Superior Court associate judge David A. Wiseman handed down yesterday a guilty verdict against one of two men accused of kidnapping and raping a woman at the Tinian cemetery.
Wiseman determined that the government was able to provide enough evidence to convict 21-year-old Joseph Ray Arriola Jr. for sexual assault in the third degree.
The crime carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Arriola will be sentenced on Nov. 10, 2011.Wiseman allowed Arriola to remain free on bail until his sentencing.
Wiseman conducted the bench trial on Monday on Tinian. Last week, the judge granted the Office of the Attorney General’s motion to dismiss the charges of kidnapping and first degree sexual assault against Arriola.
Kidnapping has a maximum sentence of life in prison, while first degree sexual assault carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in jail with a mandatory sentence of eight years.
Assistant attorney general Russell H. Lorfing, who prosecuted the case, filed an amended information last week to charge Arriola with only one count of sexual assault in the third degree.
Arriola’s counsel, Joseph Norita Camacho, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that he will be meeting with his client to discuss his sentencing. Camacho said they thank the judge for his time and consideration.
“Though Mr. Arriola did not get a favorable verdict, he was able to exercise his right to a trial,” Camacho said.
In December 2010, a Tinian Superior Court jury found Arriola’s co-defendant, Kurt B. King, not guilty of kidnapping and rape.
The victim alleged that she and her friends had been drinking at a club when King grabbed her and, together with Arriola, brought her to the cemetery where they raped her. The defendants denied the charges.
