SENTENCED: Story changed at trial

From Page A1 distress on the floor of the restroom, where she immediately reported the rape.”

Padilla-Chicas, whose DNA was found on the victim’s body, initially denied having any sexual contact with the victim, but at trial altered his story to say they engaged in consensual intercourse, prosecutors said.

Jurors convicted PadillaChicas on Dec. 27 after about four-and-a-half hours of deliberations. Yolo Superior Court Judge David Rosenberg sentenced him last Thursday .

“The victim was so courageous,” said Stephanie Allen, one of the case’s prosecutors. “With all the trauma she suffered, I know it was so affirming for her when the jury, after thoughtfully listening to all the evidence, came back with a guilty verdict.”

But Deputy Public Defender Daniel Hutchinson, who represented Padilla-Chicas, noted flaws in the case, including the UCD Police Department’s failure to make contact with Padilla-Chicas until May 2020. His arrest occurred four months later.

The initial court case, which charged PadillaChicas with rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object, was dismissed in February 2022 and refiled to add two more sexualassault counts. Jurors convicted him of rape and found him not guilty of the other three allegations.

“The jury’s acquittal of Mr. Padilla of three of four serious charges, and the complaining witness’ own testimony at trial, demonstrated that this encounter began as two teenagers consensually making out at a party,” Hutchinson said. “Ultimately, they engaged in sexual intercourse, which Mr. Padilla testified he believed was also consensual.

“Although Mr. Padilla had no prior criminal record, the law does not allow for probation in this type of case,” Hutchinson added. “The court had no choice but to sentence him to prison and chose the lowest prison term allowable.”

— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisen terprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene who gathered information and evaluated the performance of virtually every state and local program in California, she said.

Locally, Neville has served as chair of the city’s Finance and Budget Commission and now serves on the Planning Commission, and also chaired the school district Measure M Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee, overseeing expenditures under the $150 million school facilities construction program. She also is board president of the National Alliance on Mental Illness for Yolo County (NAMI).

“I love this community,” Neville said. “This is where we raised our son and where he participated in soccer, little league, the city basketball program, Camp Putah, high school lacrosse, you name it… We loved living here where he could safely bike to school every day. This is also where I cared for my parents, who were welcomed by the senior community when they moved to Davis in their late ’70s.

“This is also where my husband, who is an ecologist and professor at UCD, developed his career restoring natural habitats in the region and mentoring the next generation of ecologists. This is the time for me to give back and work hard to make Davis a more welcoming, sustainable, and affordable place to live.”

— Reach Anne TernusBellamy at aternus@davisenter prise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.