Pollacci Rape Trial: Woman Fell From Stairs

Arguments appear to be over whether she fell on her own or Pollacci struck her. What if she was running away in fear and fell?

Two experts testified Tuesday that the woman allegedly raped by Thomas Pollacci in his father’s Pacific Grove liquor store was critically injured in a fall, not by being struck by an object.

The fact that Jane Doe 5 had a laceration on the left side of her head, but internal brain injuries only on the right side, showed her head was moving when it struck a stationary object, not the other way around, according to Dr. Joseph Cohen, chief pathologist for Riverside County, and Bahram Ravani, a UC Davis biomechnical engineering professor.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Woman Fell From Stairs

Pollacci Rape Trial: Tommy’s Lawyer Attacks

Jane Doe # 5 is suing the Pollaccis? GO GIRL!!

Liu told jurors in his opening statement that his client and the woman had consensual sex and that she then fell from the second-story loft where they had been drinking wine together. Too embarrassed to admit she had sex with Pollacci, a registered sex offender, she made up the story and has since filed a federal lawsuit against Pollacci and his family, Liu said.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Tommy’s Lawyer Attacks

Pollacci Rape Trial: Victim 3

Hear-old wrote that Defense Attorney Andy Lui wanted her arrested and brought to court to testify. Is that right?

The woman was subpoenaed to testify early Tuesday, but did not appear. Investigators testified she was angry about how she was treated at the preliminary hearing in the 1992 case.

Investigator Adam Sepegan said the woman felt Pollacci’s defense attorney made her out to be a “whore” on cross-examination and the prosecutor had done nothing to defend her.

The woman testified in 1992 that she believed Pollacci drugged her after he brought her home from a first date at Rocky Point Restaurant. She was angry he drank a large amount of alcohol and suggested that he should go home, but he walked her into her apartment.

She told police she got a glass of water and went to her bedroom to change. When she came out, she drank some of the water, she said. She testified she awoke the next morning thinking she was having a dream, only to realize Pollacci engaged in sex with her.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Victim 3

Pollacci Rape Trial: Reno Professor Says Memory Retrieval False

Had to go to Reno for a paid expert? Couldn’t get anyone from Stanford?

A psychologist testifying on behalf of sex offender Thomas Pollacci on Friday said it was impossible for someone to “retrieve” memories that never existed and the effort to do so could create false recollections.

Deborah Davis, a University of Nevada Reno professor who is an expert on memory, said a head injury can prevent an event from being stored in the brain. She testified therapies that use imagery to recall a traumatic event have been shown to cause false memories.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Reno Professor Says Memory Retrieval False

Pollacci Rape Trial: Defense Strikes Back

Perhaps the cruelest part of any rape trial, defense weasels make the victim out to be a willing participant.

Liu asked her if it was a “word-finding” problem that caused her to tell police during her final interview that she had consensual intercourse with Pollacci after a cordial and romantic dinner.

“I remember trying to articulate it with what ability I had,” she said tersely. “… There was sex but it did not involve me. It was consensual being there as a part of that experience.”

She said she never told anyone because it was embarrassing.

Reading from a transcript from the recorded interview, Liu said she told police she was embarrassed because of Pollacci’s reputation and her “own lack of self-control.”

“Are those the words that you were able to find?” he said.

Turning to 2008, Liu asked the woman if she told police that her verbal exchange with Pollacci in the loft was friendly bantering.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Defense Strikes Back

Pollacci Rape Trial: He Rubs More Than Her Back

ewwww.

Earlier Wednesday, the woman described an encounter with Pollacci in 1995, when she lived across the street from his parents’ home in Pebble Beach.

Jane Doe 5 said she accepted an invitation to visit him as he cooked dinner at the house, a date that turned sour when she discovered he was masturbating as he gave her a shoulder massage.

She said she ran home, with Pollacci in pursuit, claiming they were “having a good time,” and she finally sent him away by threatening to call the police.

Pollacci Rape Trial: He Rubs More Than Her Back

Seven Years In Prison For Arsonist

Prison will offer perhaps a better opportunity for odd tattoos for the man.

Nathan Augustine, 28, pleaded guilty to two counts of arson for firebombing Creative Visions tattoo parlor in Monterey on July 13 and Latitudes Restaurant in Pacific Grove two days later. He used Molotov cocktails in both incidents.

Margaret Perotti, owner of Creative Visions, asked Judge Russell Scott to consider imposing a term of 11 years on Augustine, who became incensed when her business declined to apply a tattoo of President Barack Obama’s face under crosshairs on his chest.

Seven Years In Prison For Arsonist

Pollacci Rape Trial: Who’s “Davey”?

Victim #1 tells story of kidnap & rape when she was 16 and Pollacci was 20.

Identified in court as “Jane Doe 1,” the 45-year-old woman testified that “Tommy” Pollacci and a man later identified as “Davey” showed up at her home while she was getting ready for school one morning 30 years ago. When she opened the door in her bathrobe, she said, they grabbed her, threw her in Pollacci’s car and took her against her will to a concealed spot along Carmel River.

While Davey held her down, she said, Pollacci raped her near the river’s edge.

Pollacci Rape Trial: Who’s “Davey”?

Pollacci Rape Trail: Putting Past Victims On The Stand?

Talk about being scared and uncomfortable. Give them the strength to overcome the fear.

Investigator Adam Sepagan said the woman felt Pollacci’s defense attorney made her out to be a “whore” and that the district attorney failed to come to her defense. Pollacci pleaded guilty to sexual battery in the case.

Prosecutor Michael Breeden told Judge Russell Scott this morning that the woman had the right to refuse testimony under the Sexual Assault Victim’s Bill of Rights. He wants to present the current jury with a transcript of her testimony from 1992.

Pollacci Rape Trail: Putting Past Victims On The Stand?